Alive
by itsLisey
Summary: There is a triple homicide in Boston that Jane has been assigned to. Maura confesses her feelings for Jane. Can Jane sort out her own life while trying to figure who ended three other girls?
1. Okay

"Maura,"

"Yes, Jane?"

"I'm not wearing any pants."

"I'm aware." Maura pushed past Jane and unbuttoned her long coat to hang it on the rack. Jane had barely enough time to close the door before Maura was sitting on her couch. Jane looked down at herself. She wasn't wearing any pants, only an old pair of boxers. It seemed silly to feel self-conscious about it, as Maura had seen her in a sports bra and shorts before, but as she took a seat next to Maura she hastily covered up her knees with a blanket that had been warming Jo Friday.

"Maura," Jane said her friends name again, this time more slowly and prodding. "Can I ask what you're doing here at," she looked over at her clock. "-three o'clock in the morning?"

"Actually you wouldn't use the word 'can'," Maura corrected. "It's incorrect. Obviously you _can _ask me what I'm doing here, but it's more suited to use the word 'may' instead of 'can'. May implies asking for permission. Can implies questioning one's abilities."

"You came here to correct my grammar?" snorted Jane.

"Have you ever thought about having intercourse with a woman?" Had anyone other than Maura Isles asked Jane that question, she would have been convinced it was a joke. But Maura didn't ask with rushed hesitation or nervousness; no, Maura asked with sheer blunt curiosity.

"Um,"

"I kissed a girl once."

"Did you like it, Katy Perry?"

"My name is Maura."

"Nevermind." Jane rubbed her eyes. "So, you kissed a girl once. When?"

"Boarding school." replied Maura. Jane looked down and noticed Maura twisting her hands together which Jane knew all too well was a sign of nerves. "I was fourteen. She was sixteen. It was just a kiss but, well, I liked it. But I haven't kissed a girl since. I really do enjoy the male physique."

Jane rolled her eyes, "Yeah. I know."

"So have you?"

"Have I what?"

"Thought about having intercourse with a woman?"

"Have you been drinking?" Jane looked at Maura with extreme concern. "Come on, Maur. I know it was a long day."

Maura looked away from Jane and walked to the other side of the room. "I haven't been drinking," she insisted. "I'm just curious. Jane, we're thirty. Haven't you ever wondered if you will ever find someone? You know, to spend the rest of your life with? It's interesting. I've never had the urge to find that person but now I do. Maybe it's just a rush of emotions but something changed inside of me tonight. And who is to say my companion has to be a male?" Maura picked up Jo Friday and scratched under his chin. Jane stared at Maura. She looked far too lost in her own thoughts to be pulled out. "I mean, gender is all neurologically based. We are who we are because our brain tells us who we are. What does it matter if we're anatomically similar to one another?"

"We're?"

Maura ignored her. "Sexual attraction is chemical based. We feel an arousal towards a person who elicits certain sexual desires within our own systems. Physical, emotional. Voice and smell also play a huge role. I have had many sexual partners who I was highly attracted to because of their buttocks but also because of their sensual and sometimes beautiful voice."

Jane was beginning to feel uncomfortable and stood up. "Okay, Maura-"

"Let me finish please." she said simply. Jane sat back down. "We all have a basic biological drive to have sexual contact. That doesn't necessarily mean with the opposite sex," Maura bit her lip. "I think it would be perfectly adequate to have intercourse with someone of the same sex providing that the attraction was there. Of course there are repercussions..." Maura wasn't even talking to Jane anymore. She was pacing back and forth with Jo Friday lolling happily in her arms. "Socially, culturally, politically, religiously..." Maura suddenly turned and stared pointedly at Jane. "Do you believe in Catholic guilt?"

"I believe in Ma guilt."

"Fair enough." Maura went back to pacing. "I guess what I'm saying Jane, is sexuality is all in the mind set and I think I've finally figured out where my mind has been all these years. Do you understand?"

"Not at all."

Maura stopped pacing and let Jo Friday down. She sat down next to Jane and, without even letting her eyes blink, said: "Kiss me."

"You have been drinking. Geez, Maur. How many bottles of wine?"

"Jane, I _haven't _been drinking. _Kiss me._"

"Maura-"

"What? Do you want me to take a breathalyzer? Do you have one of those here? I'm more than willing to take one. I can't lie, Jane."

"You lied perfectly well earlier at the auto shop with our little ruse."

"I never lied. You said we were dating, not me."

"You went along with it."

"But it wasn't lying."

"Last time I checked, I've never call you babe and we're not in a relationship."

"The subconscious is really very interesting, Jane. According to Freud, the subconscious is the repository for our wishes, desires, memories we've pushed aside and emotions we're not ready to deal with yet. That is why slips of the tongue are often referred to as Freudian slips because they are slips in which we did not intend, nor did we realize we said. It is our unconscious mind-"

"English, Maura!"

"I feel a sexual attraction to you and I wouldn't mind having intercourse with you despite being a female." Jane stared. "Which is why during our ruse with Giovanni I didn't begin convulsing like I normally do when I begin to lie. It wasn't a lie for me. Not really, at least. I enjoy your company and I believe that I enjoy it more than just a friendly, platonic relationship."

"Wait," Jane stuttered. "I mean, you and I-" she rubbed her hand across her eye again. "We're not _gay, _Maura. Jesus."

"I'm not particularly fond of labels but I think the term would be bi-sexual. I do quite enjoy men."

"I-what?"

"Could you at least attempt to follow what I am trying to say?" sighed Maura.

"It's late." Jane said simply, looking at the clock again. It was more for appearance than actual knowledge of the time. She stood up and tossed the blanket on the couch. "I'm tired. You're clearly tired. Let's just go to bed."

"Jane," Maura pleaded. "Are you mad?"

"I'm not mad, Maura. I'm confused as hell. I need a beer." Jane swiped her hair over her shoulder and walked to the fridge. She frowned when she couldn't find a beer. After moving around everything she could possibly move around and still not finding one hidden in the back, Jane admitted defeat. "Of course I'm out of beer."

"It's bad to drink alcohol this late anyway," offered Maura. "Especially when you're going to bed directly after."

"I really don't need a lecture on the effects of drinking, Maur."

"I'm sorry." Jane was quiet. Maura was standing in her doorway looking mildly depressed. "Maybe I should go. I hope that this doesn't affect our friendship. I really do treasure it," Half-heartedly, Maura turned around and let her hand twist the door knob. Jane walked over to her best friend and leaned up against the door frame.

"Maur?" she called out. "You're still my best friend."

Maura turned around and smiled. "I know." Jane twisted around and let her foot kick the door shut behind her. Rubbing her temples, Jane fell back onto her couch and groaned, not having even enough energy to re-lock her door. _What a night, _she thought miserably. The image of Maura walking away from her door wouldn't fade from her mind; Maura looked so conflicted. Just as Jane finally swiped her mind and wafted off to an uncomfortable half-sleep, her unlocked front door slammed open and Maura Isles stormed back in.

"No." she said. Jane groggily sat up. "No, I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving because _you _are a complete idiot, Jane Rizzoli."

"What did I do?" snapped Jane, her eyes half closed.

"You're just an _idiot,_" said Maura. "I mean, honestly. Here I am basically telling you that I want to sleep with you and you don't do anything. _Nothing. _I would sleep with me, you know."

"Um,"

"I mean, technically that's impossible. Well not really. Masturbation is healthy even for women. It's just such a taboo topic-"

Jane groaned. "Maura,"

"I've asked myself the logical question." she huffed. "-am I able to have an attraction to a female? I have kissed another female before and it was enjoyable. Looking into my past, it's not as though I was strictly heterosexual. I've had fantasies about other women before. So from there I can form a general hypothesis from looking at my past. I am romantically attracted to you. It's very difficult to test my hypothesis seeing as you refused to kiss me earlier but experimentation is in the eye of the beholder; I suppose pretended to be your girlfriend and feeling such strong feelings towards you is a positive experiment. After analyzing my feelings tonight I've drawn the conclusion that I like you, Jane."

"Did you just use the scientific method to determine whether or not you're gay?"

"Bi-sexual."

"Whatever."

"Do you believe this could never work?" asked Maura seriously. "That we couldn't work? We practically live together already. I spend more time with you than I have with anyone in my entire life. That includes my parents."

"Bass."

"He's a tortoise. It doesn't count." Maura stepped closer to Jane. Jane swallowed hard. "They say all the best relationships start as best friends. We're best friends, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

Maura leaned in closer to Jane causing Jane to stumble backwards just slightly. "I know I am being forward," she looked at Jane's lips and then let her eyes travel back to her eyes.

"You could say that," gulped Jane. Jane looked at Maura with fascination. Something about their proximity made her nervous but not in the way she thought it would. "Maur..."

"We could just try," offered Maura. "You're always telling me to guess or try something new or take a risk. Can those same rules apply to you?"

"May."

"What?"

"Wouldn't you use 'may' instead of 'can'?"

"No, I used it correctly. I'm questioning your abilities."

"Yeah, of course." Jane sighed.

"Are you afraid?"

"I'm not _afraid," _

"Do you think you're an inadequate kisser?"

"I'm a fantastic kisser, thank you very much."

"When someone refuses to kiss another person it typically is because they are either disgusted by the aggressor or insecure regarding their own abilities." A crooked smile crossed Maura's lips. Jane was beginning to fidget just as she had hoped. Maura knew every one of Jane's buttons to push and exactly how far she would need to push them to get what she wanted. "So you think I'm disgusting?"

"_No!_"

"So you're insecure with your kissing."

"I'm secure, trust me."

"I'm not so sure," Maura teased. "I mean, you don't date much. I've had many more sexual partners than you this past year."

Her cheek color climbed to a rosy red. Jane stepped closer to Maura, her teeth gritted together. "I'm _great._"

"To believe you would be guessing because I have no..." Maura chose her words carefully. "_intimate_ knowledge," Taking one more brave step, Maura looked Jane straight in the eyes. "I don't make guesses. I need facts." Jane crashed her lips on Maura's the second Maura's hand grazed Jane's hip. It was clumsy but Maura pressed herself against Jane and wrapped the detective's long brunette curls around her fingers. She took in the moment for as long as it was given. Jane let her own hand wander down to Maura's waist. The kiss only lasted, at best, ten seconds, but as they both pulled away they were left breathless. Not because of the kiss, but because of what it meant. Maura, a playful glint in her eyes, stepped back from Jane and looked her up and down. "More than adequate," she smiled. "But to get a more concrete conclusion there would need to be more than one experiment."

"I..." Jane looked uneasy and she stared down at her bare toes.

"You're the one that feels all the emotions, Jane. You didn't feel anything in that?"

"I did," she mumbled. "I did, Maura. I felt something. But this is weird. You're my best friend. I don't want to fu-"

"-language-"

"-ck anything up. And Jesus, Ma is going to have a field day with this. And Frankie. Frost. Korsak has been asking me if I was a lesbian for years," she rubbed her forehead. "This is a lot to take in, okay?"

"I understand."

"I like guys," insisted Jane. Maura's heart sunk a little. "But I liked that...kiss." She sat down onto the couch and folded her head in her hands. Maura sat next to Jane, her hands in her lap, and looked straight ahead at the television which was almost always on a sports channel. It seemed odd to Maura that it was off.

"Jane? May I bother you away from your thinking for a moment?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." grunted Jane.

"If you're agreeable to the idea, I would like to give us a try. We don't really have that much to lose. Things might not work out but if they don't we can always remain friends. Best friends, even. I feel very strongly about you. I have always loved you," Maura looked at Jane. "But I think there is a possibility that I could fall _in _love with you, and I've never felt that before. Not in my whole life. I want to feel it for once. I need to feel human."

"You are human, Maur."

"But with you, I'm alive."

Jane stared at her best friend. She wouldn't deny that she found Maura attractive; Jane had always admired the doctors snappy fashion sense and beautiful figure. She had mostly tried chalking it up to jealousy due to her thin, pole like frame and considerably flatter chest. But as Jane stared at Maura, those green eyes simmering with a mixture of sexual depravity and genuine affection, she couldn't help but think back to all the times her life had been in danger because of the job position she took up. Most, if not all of the times, Jane had been in danger her primary thought was getting back and comforting Maura. Not so much for Jane's own good, but for Maura's; to let her best friend know that she was alive and safe. It never struck her as abnormal until now. Jane leaned in and flipped Maura's hand over. She let hers lay next to it facing palm up. Maura's hand was considerably smaller and daintier. She had no scar tissue where a scalpel stabbed through her skin. Jane wondered if the softness of Maura's hands was a genetic trait or the outcome of pricey moisturizers. She looked at the differences of their hands and let her fingers tip toe into Maura's. Jane looked up and smiled shakily.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

**Review? Thanks! **


	2. Lover's Quarrel

"Ok so just act normal." Jane pulled into her usual parking spot. She shifted the gear into park and turned to look at her best friend turned lover. They spent a pleasant weekend adapting to their new relationship, mostly consisting of watching television and brushing their hands against each other from time to time. Maura knew that Jane was uneasy with the whole idea. She didn't want to take it so far to the point that Jane ran. So Maura left the touches primarily up to Jane with the exception of one goodbye kiss that Maura initiated the night before. "We don't need to start waving rainbow flags all over the damn station."

"I'm more than capable of acting normal. Are you?" pressed Maura. Jane looked at herself in the mirror. She did seem a bit pale.

Climbing from the car and locking the doors, Jane simply nodded. "I just want to wait for a little while to tell people, you know? Just to make sure we want this. So just, you know, act like you normally do. All smart and stuff,"

"Jane-"

"-because we really don't need to go walking around holding hands, you know? Just normal. Everything can be normal-"

"-Jane-"

"-so no flirting, you know? Not here, not at work. I think that would make everyone uncomfortable. So we'll just be normal-"

"_-Jane!_"

Jane, finally hearing Maura's voice, stopped and turned to look at her. "Huh?"

"Angela." Maura pointed towards the front steps of the police station at Angela Rizzoli who was scurrying towards them with two brown bags. Even from the distance, Jane knew that one of those bags had her name on it and one of them had Frankie's. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "And don't worry, I'll be perfectly _normal_." Maura muttered with a twinge of annoyance. Jane looked over but didn't have time to apologize.

"Hi girls," Angela smiled at the two, outstretching one hand to give Jane her lunch. "Here you go, Janie. Now that we don't have _family _dinners anymore I thought I would bring you and Frankie a little lunch on Monday's to make up for no dinner on Sunday's."

"We eat, Ma." sighed Jane. "What are you doing here?"

"Lunches!" she thrust the bag at Jane again who finally took it. "That's all. And to say hi to the lovely doctor," Maura just smiled. "You know Maura, I live in that guest house of yours and I never see you. One of these nights Janie will have to come over and I'll cook us all a big Italian dinner, what do you say?"

"That sounds lovely, Angela." Maura, feeling brave, snuck a little smile in Jane's direction. Jane ignored it. Sighing, Maura shuffled backwards. "I really have to run right now. We have a full freezer downstairs after that freeway accident and the murders. It was great seeing you, Angela." Maura turned to Jane. "Jane," she tipped her head and walked off.

Angela frowned. "Did you two have a fight?"

"No, Ma." groaned Jane. "I really gotta get into work."

"Well hold on a minute," she whined. "I just want to talk to my daughter. Is that really too much to ask? I barely see any of you kids anymore. I'm living in your best friends house and I never even see you. How come? Can't you visit your old divorced mother?"

"You're not divorced yet," Jane peeked in the bag and pulled out a cookie. "And if you would just talk to dad-"

"-I am not talking to your father! If he wants to have his little mid-life crisis and go find himself a young, attractive, beautiful blonde who _hasn't had three of his children _or _fed him his entire life _or-"

"Okay, I get it. But I really don't think that dad is going to run out and find some twenty-year old beauty queen. He ain't that pretty himself."

"Don't you speak bad about your father!"

Sighing and knowing the conversation was leading no where, Jane began walking in the building with her mother following. "Why don't you go bother Frankie? Go give him his peanut butter sandwich and juice box. He'll love you,"

"Love me more than you love me,"

Jane turned around and put her hands on her moms shoulders. "I love you. I love you. I love you." she smiled. "I just have a lot of work to do." Jane kissed her mom on the cheek and waved her off. "Thank you for the lunch!"

* * *

><p>"We have three dead girls and no suspect. Dammit, Frost." Jane threw the file down on her desk. It had been a long, aggravating morning filled with reviewing old serial killer files and cold cases. The lunch that Angela had made for Jane sat mostly untouched. Jane was too disturbed to eat it; three girls all brutally tied up, raped, cut into while they were alive, and then left to bleed to death. The sad truth was that it wasn't Jane's most gruesome case. The bodies downstairs in autopsy had three identical slash marks on their stomachs. Jane hadn't had the nerves to go down and see the bodies yet. She relied on the pictures and hoped that Maura would find some DNA evidence on one of the bodies. So far Jane hadn't seen or heard from Maura.<p>

Frost picked up the files Jane threw and stared at them. He had already memorized most of the facts. Re-reading wouldn't do him much good, but he skimmed through the papers again anyway as Jane sat at her desk morosely staring at the _designer _stapler Maura bought her three christmases ago. It was so ridiculous that it made Jane smile, even if only briefly, and the thought of Maura made her stomach do a little flip.

_What a weekend, _Jane thought to herself.

The door swung open and Maura walked in. Jane didn't need to look up to know it was her, though. The sound of her high heels clinking against the cold tiled floor of the office and the smell of her tantalizing perfume was all the evidence Jane needed to know it was her friend. _No, _Jane reminded herself. _Girlfriend. She's you're girlfriend, stupid. _Almost as if she was afraid she said it out loud, Jane's eyes darted towards Frost and a sleeping Korsak who were both, obviously, unaware of her thoughts. She looked up at Maura who looked just as sullen as Jane.

"This guy left no evidence whatsoever." Maura handed the file to Jane. "There isn't anything. I'm sorry."

"Nothing? No semen? Blood? Fingerprints? Come on, Maur. There has to be something." Jane flipped through the file hoping to find an error.

Maura shook her head and her eyes narrowed. "I don't make mistakes, Jane." Jane's eyes looked up at Maura as well. For whatever reason, she felt that Maura's comment had a double meaning. She shook it off and dropped the file on Frost's desk. "So what now?" asked Maura, penetrating the silence.

"We hope we get a lead." Jane rubbed her eyes and snatched the file from Frost again. "Maybe something in these girls past. So far we can't find a connection. They didn't go to the same school, never lived in the same neighborhoods. Rachel Dubrey lived in Connecticut until three weeks ago. Didn't even have connections here in Boston."

Maura furrowed her eyebrows. "Why come to Boston?"

"According to her best friend, she wanted a fresh start. I guess she had a rocky relationship with her ex-boyfriend and needed to get away."

"Is the boyfriend clean?"

"Air-tight alibi. He was in a holding cell the night of the rape and murder for disorderly conduct."

Maura hummed for a moment and picked up Rachel's autopsy file. "Did the friend say what kind of rocky relationship it was? Because I didn't find any bruises or recent broken bones."

"I don't think it was abusive," Jane said. "Pretty sure he was just a raging alcoholic. Cops booked him after a bar fight. Took a swing at the wrong undercover cop," she grinned.

Frowning, Maura shut the file. "He sounds like a winner."

"Mmm," Jane took a swig of her root beer. "Until we get some break, this case is as cold as it gets. No connections, no DNA, no suspects. We don't even have a witness. I have no clue why these girls were where they were the night of their murders and no one saw them for at least a week before the crime. We're bone dry." She cricked her name and grimaced, rubbing her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Maura asked.

"Pulled something I think,"

"Here, let me-" As Maura reached out to rub Jane's shoulder, she ricochetted backwards in her computer chair and slammed into Frost's desk. Both stunned and hurt, Maura stepped even further back away from Jane. Jane looked surprised herself. Her eyes went from Frost to Maura to Korsack, who had finally woken up, and then she finally settled on looking down at her hands.

"It just hurts,"

"Maybe you should let a doctor see it." Pause. "Oh wait," she quipped sarcastically. Jane stood and walked to her desk, gently scooting around Maura and dumping the files up in her drawer.

"You two ladies alright?" Frost raised an eyebrow at them.

"Lovers quarrel," laughed Korsak.

Jane slammed the drawer shut and turned on both of them. "You're both hilarious."

"Jane, we need to talk." hissed Maura. She didn't wait for Jane to respond. The doctor turned around and stomped from the detective's eye sight, down the stairs, and into the autopsy room. Jane stood there for a moment to collect her thoughts. Both Frost and Korsack were sniggering into their coffee cups.

Jane looked at them both and frowned. "I'm going to walk out that door, and neither one of you are going to say a damn word."

* * *

><p>"Maura," sighed Jane as she entered autopsy. Maura was hunched over an open body. She was remarkably fast for such a tiny woman. Her hands were already covered in latex gloves and her dress was covered by her lab coat. The silence in the room pierced Jane and for a moment she thought Maura was giving her the silent treatment.<p>

"Do I smell?" Maura joked lightly as she cut into Alison Manor's body.

"Wh-" Jane frowned. "No, why would you even ask that? You smell...wonderful. Like some kind of flower or something."

With one hand on the victims stomach and the other gripping a scalpel, Maura looked up at Jane with a blank face. It wasn't angry like Jane had expected, nor was it sad. It was void of any emotion whatsoever. Maura let the scalpel drop onto her work table and she ripped the gloves off. "Okay, so do I have a disease I don't know about? Am I contagious? I know I'm _just a pathologist _but I would know if I was ill."

"You're not ill," Jane shook her head. "What's wrong?"

"You act like I'm the plague! You won't touch me, you won't look at me. Jane, we had more physical contact with each other when we _weren't _dating. I was absolutely terrified that telling you would be a mistake because I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable with me if you said no to the idea. I never thought I would have to worry about you saying yes and feeling uncomfortable." Groaning, Jane gave one quick glance behind her and walked over to Maura with her hand outstretched. Maura shrugged her away. "There, right there! You just looked to see if anyone was coming. Honestly, no one is going to think you're trying to jump me in the autopsy room if you want to hold my hand or give me a hug. We're supposed to be best friends."

"Okay, you're right, I'm sorry." Jane snapped defensively. "This is new."

"It's new to me too. I'm not saying we have to-" Maura thought for a minute. "What did you say this morning? Wave a rainbow flag? But I would like to feel like you're not thoroughly disgusted with me. I mean, if this is how this is going to be-"

"-it's not. Honest. I'm just," Jane kicked one of the empty rolling carts across the room, startling Maura. The M.E stared wildly at her girlfriend. "-Maura, you don't get it! I don't want to be some stereotype."

"You are right. I _don't _get it." Maura growled as she rolled the cart back over to her side of the room. "I would appreciate it if you could contain your temper."

Ignoring her last comment, Jane hoisted herself up onto Maura's desk and sat there. "I have two older brothers. I'd rather wear jeans and a t-shirt than a skirt or a dress. When I was younger, I didn't play barbies. I played G.I Joe. Everyone always whispered behind my back at school, Maur. I was _that lesbian girl. _I fit this stereotype that I don't want to fit into. I like guys. I guess I just like you, too."

"So what you're saying," said Maura slowly. "Is that you don't want fit in with me?"

"No," Jane said hurriedly. "No, not that. I'm-" she stopped and covered her face with her hands. "I just don't want everyone to be right. You heard Korsak up there. _Lover's quarrel,_"

"Jane, I'm relatively certain it was a joke."

"I'm not."

"So what? He's right. It is a lover's quarrel. We're in a relationship."

"They don't know that."

"They wouldn't judge you, Jane. They love you."

"It's not about judging."

"So this is all about them being right?" Maura yelled. "This is all about you needing to be right about something? Does this really mean that little to you that you would _refuse _to tell your friends about us to what, save your pride?" Jane stayed silent. "I really thought this could work without breaking up our friendship, but apparently I was wrong."

"What are you saying?"

"I didn't ask you to tell them. We don't need to tell them if you don't want us to. But I thought at the very least our work relationship would remain the same. You practically jump out of your skin the second I walk in the room. This morning you were telling me to act normal when you're the one making a big deal out of this. I like you. I'm attracted to you. I would like to have sex with you. I've been taking this slow _for you. _But I need something more. I need to know that you're in this."

"I'm in this."

"I don't believe you."

"Why not?"

"Because you can lie."


	3. Proof

Jane tossed her keys on the counter and rubbed her eyes. After her fight with Maura, she walked upstairs to her desk, grabbed her things and stormed out without even a glance at her co-workers. Neither Frost or Korsack tried to talk to her. Either they were too afraid of her lashing out at them or they simply couldn't find anything to say. They watched her walk out of the office with her gun strapped to her side and her bag slung over her shoulder. Nobody did angry better than Jane Rizzoli.

The house seemed considerably lonelier that night. Maura had stayed the entire weekend and although Jane enjoyed her own personal quiet time, Maura wasn't a nuisance. If anything, she knew exactly when Jane needed to be left alone and when she needed someone to talk to. It felt normal – right, even – to have Maura staying the entire weekend. To have her missing from the house seemed more strange than anything else. Grumbling, Jane walked to her fridge to grab a bottle of water. An unopened case of beer welcomed her instead; Maura must have stocked the fridge when Jane wasn't looking.

"Son of a," muttered Jane, taking a beer and staring at it. "Well I suck." Not feeling right about drinking it, Jane pushed the beer aside and went for her pre-decided water bottle. Alcohol wouldn't help her tonight. For once, Jane wanted her head straight. She wanted to be thinking clear. Above all, Jane didn't want to use the beer as an escape; she watched her oldest brother do that and, realizing that she was beginning to do the same thing, Jane swore to herself that she would cut back. She twisted the cap, took a long drink, and fell back onto her couch.

Jane had always known she had a certain affection for girls. It was never anything that she gave too much though to though. Mostly, Jane pushed it out of her head as best she could because the idea that everyone was right about her, that everyone knew something about her that Jane didn't know herself for such a long time, was too much for her to handle. And Jane knew what she wanted; eventually, Jane wanted kids. One or two. A boy and a girl, she told herself. She wanted a house with a yard and a tree house like the one she used to play pirates in with Frankie. The only way to accomplish any of that was to get a husband. Jane knew she didn't _need _a man, but Jane _wanted _a man for all of those reasons and more. The only thing Jane didn't want in her picture book life style was the dog, and that's exactly all Jane had.

Somewhere along the line that changed. Jane wasn't even sure it was Maura. It was the job, ultimately. Seeing murdered kids doesn't do much for your mommy-complex. It turns you away from the idea of bringing a kid into the world. Why do this to someone? Create them only to risk their lives to all the maniacs out there? And the thought of finding a husband who understood all this – the hours, the emotions, the job in general – well, it was laughable. Jane knew that somewhere between the time she made detective up until right that very second, something inside of her was _forced _to change. Not because of Maura, not because of any girl, but because of her job. Because at the end of the day Jane Rizzoli was a detective for the Boston Police Department whose life was on the line every time she stepped outside of her house. But Maura Isles, the beautiful, overly intelligent medical examiner, was always the one natural force that gave Jane hope at the end of the day; she was her best friend who understood the demands of her job and understood all the emotional strain that it put on Jane's shoulders. Maybe Maura was the reason Jane still wanted to love.

Maybe Maura was who she _needed _to love.

Jane picked her phone up and pressed Maura's name in her contacts. It rang and rang, and when Maura's voice flittered through Jane's ears from her voicemail Jane simply pushed end. There was not much of a point in leaving everything she wanted to say on a voicemail.

* * *

><p>"Rizzoli!" Korsack barked. Jane turned to look at her former partner; he looked angry, but she knew it wasn't directed at her. He had a thick file and was waving it back and forth in the air. Quickening her pace, Jane rushed over to him and snatched the envelope out of his hands. He wiped the sweat off his forehead as Jane flipped through the documents.<p>

Her mouth dropped. "They did know each other. Holy shit,"

"Your doc is a genius."

"This is," Swallowing hard, Jane looked at Korsack. "How didn't we notice this before? Wouldn't Maura have seen this yesterday?"

"It didn't come in until today. Maura stayed overnight. She knew this case was cold and didn't want you to come in and it still not be even luke warm." Fidgeting uncomfortably, Jane frowned.

"They were sisters." Jane examined the three photographs. Rachel was the oldest of the girls; she had dark brown hair that fell just past her shoulders. Her eyes were a simple green, but in the next photograph of her they looked blue. Like the youngest girl Leah, Rachel had a beautiful olive skin tone. But the middle girl, Kelly, looked most like Leah; their eyes were the same very large, very round eyes. Even their mouths looked to be the similar shape. "How did I miss this? Honestly,"

"In murders like these, the girls always look the same." Korsack patted Jane on the shoulder. "They have parents back home. We never would have thought that this was anything but a serial look a like murder."

"So the shared DNA comes from the father?"

Korsack nodded. "According to doc. We've requested all the parents come in for testing."

"Do they know yet?" asked Jane. "That the husbands aren't these girls fathers?"

"We didn't tell them why they were coming in."

"Good." Jane began backing away from him. She pointed at him with her index finger and, with a stern look, shouted back: "Keep it that way!"

Maura was hunched over her computer when Jane entered autopsy. She barely even looked up when she nodded Jane towards her. It felt strange to walk in after their fight. Jane had to pull herself back and remind herself that this was what she brought upon herself. Work needed to stay work. She looked over Maura's shoulder to see what the doctor was working on. Rachel, Leah and Kelly's DNA was opened side by side. Sure enough, Jane saw where it overlapped. They were certainly sisters.

"Maura, you're brilliant." Jane smiled at her. Maura didn't smile back, though. Trying again, Jane pointed at the screen and asked a question she already knew the answer to. "So that means that they have the same dad, right?"

"Correct." Maura said. Jane couldn't ignore the undertone of bitterness.

"We've called all the parents. Bet they'll get here soon," Jane sat down on Maura's desk and tried to get the tiniest glimpse of Maura's eyes. "We're going to need you to take their DNA."

"Of course."

"Korsack told me you pulled an all-nighter. Thanks, Maur."

"I was just doing my job."

"I tried calling you last night."

"I was here."

"Do you want to have lunch?"

"In a closet?"

Jane frowned, shaking her head at the ground. "I'm really trying here Maura." she let her hands fall to her side and looked pointedly at her best friend. "I want this. I want you." Maura looked up from her computer and took in Jane's appearance; her eyes were tired and it didn't look like she had much energy to do anything with her hair today. Someone with less tact would tell Jane that she didn't look very nice at all that day. Maura bit her cheek and rose from her seat. She walked to her other work station and didn't look up at Jane. "I'm not embarrassed of you or ashamed that we're together. If anything, you should be ashamed of being with _me_."

"Please don't get started with the whole money thing again, Jane. You know it means so little to me-"

"-not that. Just, you're so... _beautiful. _And smart. You went to college, Maur. You're successful and brilliant."

"Please stop,"

"No. Yesterday you told me that you wouldn't believe me because I can lie. Well, you're right. I was trained to know how to lie. But I will _always _tell you the truth because friendship means more to me than anything else. You're my best friend," Jane scooted closer to Maura and let her hand rest on Maura's hip. "And I would like to try and be more. I'm not promising anything," she muttered. "I've never been very good at relationships. You've watched me burn through a ton of 'em. But I want to try." Smiling, Jane moved as close as she could get to the doctor. Maura's eyes were darting back and forth. Finally as her thoughts collected themselves, she stared at Jane. "For you." finished Jane.

Jane leaned in to place a light kiss on Maura's lips, but the second flesh grazed against flesh Maura stumbled backwards and away from her best friend. She shook her head and her eyes, which were coated in a thin layer of unshed tears, closed. "I need proof, Jane."

"Proof?"

"Our friendship means the most to me right now," she said, her eyes still closed tight. "And I do not want to begin something that could ruin it. If you hurt me romantically," her eyes finally opened. "I might be too angry with you to save our friendship. I need proof."

Jane turned her back to Maura. "The parents will be here by four. Make sure you have swabs ready."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Rachel's parents are downstairs." Jane awoke to Frost's voice buzzing in her ear. After brooding for nearly an hour at her desk about what kind of proof she could give Maura, Jane threw herself into an overnight room and took a nap. There wasn't too much they could do on the case until the first set of parents arrived. Jane tugged her shoes back on and pulled on her jacket. No matter how many parents of victims Jane had met over the years, she would never get used to the butterflies in her stomach as she walked down the stairs to the conference room.<p>

Colleen Dubrey looked like any mother who had just lost a child; shell-shocked, exhausted, and emotionally drained. Her eyes were still wet with tears, giving Jane the impression that the grieving mother had only stopped crying moments before walking into the room. Jane saw some of Rachel in her mother. Rachel had her mothers dimples and high cheek bones. Their skin tone was fairly similar as well. Most of all, they were the same height had the exact same build. Jane peeked at the file. Jerome Dubrey was much taller than his wife. He had light, sandy blonde hair that was streaked with flecks of grey. Nothing about him was out of the ordinary. He looked just as much the part of a grieving parent as his wife. Jane, a knife wedged somewhere inside of her, pushed opened the door and tried to smile at the couple. This could go horribly wrong if Jerome Dubrey had no idea his daughter wasn't biologically his. Colleen nodded at the detective and scooted her chair in.

"Detective,"

"Call me Jane." Jane stuck out her hand and shook Colleen's first and then Jerome's. Jerome barely looked Jane in the eye. He wiped his eyes and gruffly asked,

"Please tell us who did this to our girl."

With a hesitant look at Frost, who had just walked in, Jane flipped open the file wide enough that Jane could look inside if she needed to. "I'm going to find whoever did this, Mr. Dubrey. But first," Jane bit her lip. "Tell me a little about Rachel. Why did she come to Boston?"

"Steve Hammer." Colleen said at once. "Horrible boy," she sniffed. "Wasn't a good bone in his body. She just couldn't _take it _anymore. The constant drinking, doing drugs,"

"Why not just break up? Why move to Boston?"

"She had a friend here." Jerome mumbled. "A girl she met through soccer. I, uh, didn't want her to go, but she said she needed a change. Can't really tell your twenty-one year old daughter what to do, y'know?"

"Do the names Leah Dean and Kelly Adams mean anything to you?" Frost asked. Jane hadn't quite been ready to ask that question yet and made it known by sneakily stepping on Frost's foot beneath the table. Neither Colleen or Jerome paid much attention to them. They were too busy tracing the names in their minds. Finally they each shook their head. "Two more girls were murdered in a similar fashion to Rachel." Colleen brought a hand to her mouth and choked out a sob.

"Other parents have to go through this? Oh God," she shrugged into her husbands shoulder and his shirt dampened with her tears.

Rizzoli shot a look at Frost and continued for him. "We understand this is hard for you to hear. I can't even begin to imagine," Jane bowed her head to collect herself. "Rachel. Was she adopted?" This caught Colleen's attention. She looked at the detective curiously.

"No, of course not. Rachel is ours."

"We need to take some DNA samples." interjected Frost. "It's standard in cases like these."

"Why? You can't think we would do this to our daughter?"

"We're not implying anything, Mr. Dubrey." Jane said hurriedly. "Like Detective Frost said, this is pretty standard. There are some things we need to check out."

Jerome frowned. "With our DNA?"

Jane and Frost looked at each other exchanging thoughts with only their eyes. "From preliminary testing on each of the girls, we've determined that they share the same father." The room was quiet. Neither Colleen or Jerome made much of a motion to talk first. Jane and Frost exchanged several more nervous looks and when finally they thought Jerome was going to say something, he shut his mouth again and remained silent. "Is this something you're...aware of?"

"Yes." said Colleen.

"So your first husband...?"

"No, no, nothing like that. Jerome, he..." she trailed off, staring at her husband. Jane looked at him expectantly.

Clearing his throat, he muttered: "I'm sterile."

"We used a fertility clinic," Colleen looked as though she was about to cry again.

Jane looked at them both. "So Rachel is the product of a sperm donor?" They nodded. She cast a look at Frost. If Rachel was the product of a sperm donor, that lessened their chances of finding all three girls real father. Unless, of course, he actually had a connection with either Kelly or Leah's mother. Jane scribbled a note down into the folder and looked back at the parents. "And you didn't know that Rachel had biological siblings?"

"Not at all,"

"The donor was anonymous." insisted Jerome. "We never wanted to know. Rachel knew, of course, but she never wanted to know her re-" Jerome paused and corrected himself. "She never wanted to know who her biological father was, and the sperm donor was anonymous so we couldn't have told her if she _did _want to know. Our other kids are donations too."

Quickly, Jane asked, "Do they have the same donor?"

"No."

"Detective Frost is going to take you down to our medical examiner and she will be taking DNA samples from you both." Frost stared at her. Usually Jane took every chance she could to go down to autopsy. She avoided his eyes and tried to smile at the obviously drained couple. "It'll be over before you know it. If you could leave any extra contact information with us before you leave, that would be great." Frost began leading them out of the conference room when Jerome Dubrey turned around and tapped Jane on the shoulder. Jane set the files down and look at him as well.

"Did he do this?" he questioned. "Whoever helped make my baby girl. Did he kill her? Did he rape her?"

"Sir," croaked Jane. "I have no idea why your daughter was killed. I don't know why her half-sisters were, as well. I don't know who did it. But I assure you, I will find out."


	4. Gonna Get Down on Friday

Maura tiredly swept her legs out from her car and struggled to make it up the steps. Her key hit everything but the lock at first and when she finally stumbled into her home and dropped her jacket on the coat rack she breathed out a sigh of relief. It had been an exhausting day, both emotionally and physically. She had never been much of one to put a lot of thought into relationships or feelings. For Maura, having the physical closeness of sex was more than enough. She wasn't used to wanting more...to needing more. Jane drove her crazy in more ways than one. That made Maura angry. It was frustrating, truthfully.

She had swabbed the DNA of each girls parents. Maura presumed Jane had already talked with them. They didn't say much when they came down to Maura's lab. The cotton swab loomed eerily over their mouths until they opened up and as quickly as they came the parents left. Frost escorted each one in and out. Maura never saw a sign of Jane until very late that night as Maura made her way to her car. Jane was hunched over her desk reading a file. Of course, going past Jane's office was much more out of her way than Maura would admit. The butterflies in her stomach grew and grew until it was unbearable and Maura walked away without telling Jane she was there.

"Hello, Bass." said Maura eloquently. Even though she felt like sleeping forever, Maura strolled to the fridge and pulled out the two freshest strawberries. She placed one on the floor for her large pet tortoise and then sucked on the other one, biting lightly. When she was done, Maura washed her hands and patted Bass' shell, deciding to go to bed. As Maura turned around to turn the kitchen light off, she cried out in shock and momentary terror. Angela Rizzoli was standing directly in front of her.

"Oh, Maura. I didn't mean to startle you, dear."

"Oh, I-" Shaking her head, Maura gathered herself again. "-no, no. That's quite alright. Is everything okay?"

"I'm doin' great out there. You know, I don't even know how to repay you."

"Please, it's my pleasure. Jane is my," Maura paused. Angela looked up. "-she's my best friend. You are her mother."

"Speakin' of Janie," Angela slid over to the counter and took a seat at one of the bar stools. "-she doin' okay? She just works _so hard,_"

Maura nibbled on her lip. "Well, her cases are very difficult. Jane puts forth a lot of effort in order to catch criminals and give solace to family members left behind. She is very good at her job."

"I don't doubt it. I just want her to have a little fun, you know? Get a man to take car of her."

Maura's stomach did flips. "Jane is very capable of taking care of herself."

"Always was, that girl." Angela picked an apple up from Maura's fruit bowl and stared at it. "Never really dated the guys. Mostly fought with 'em. Maybe it's better that she doesn't have someone. I mean, look at where it got me!" Awkwardly, Maura patted Angela's arm as she began to get misty eyed. Angela swatted her away nicely and looked up. "You're a good girl. I wish Janie could find someone with your brain and heart."

"I don't think Jane knows what she wants." muttered Maura. She stepped back from Angela and poured them both a small glass of wine. Mustering up the last bit of energy she had left, Maura passed the second glass of wine to her friends mother and leaned up against the counter. She took a long sip, savoring the sweet taste on her tongue. Maura closed her eyes and let everything fade away for just the few moments that Angela was silent.

Angela took a very large gulp, much like Jane would, and kept talking. "Janie just needs a push. She needs some fun in her life. She needs to wear a dress." she took another long sip. "A push up bra wouldn't be a bad idea either," Maura choked on her wine. Angela patted her on the back.

"Jane is average for a woman of her age and build." she said quickly, pushing the embarrassment she was feeling down her throat.

Angela laughed. "Do you go out and have any fun, doctor?"

"I enjoy a drink every now and again with company."

"Male company?"

"Sometimes." Maura turned around and poured herself more wine.

Angela sighed. "You should take Janie out sometime."

"Pardon?"

"To meet some guys."

"Oh." With a quick flick of her wrist, Maura poured just a bit more into her glass. "Yes. We frequent bars a lot together."

"So I've been thinking," Maura couldn't help but notice how quickly her heart was beating at those words coming from Angela Rizzoli's mouth. Was this what Jane was talking about? "-'bout doin' that dinner over here. I can cook up a big Rizzoli italian meal. You, me, Janie, Frankie Jr. You could invite your male company," Angela winked. Maura grimaced uncomfortably. "Pick someone that has a brother and bring him for Jane. It'll be fun! This Friday,"

Angela was already standing up and walking back towards the door. Maura rushed after her. "I don't know," she said quickly. "We have this case-"

"You can take a break." insisted Angela. "You all need some good food in you. Friday, seven o'clock. I think you should tell Jane. She'll take it better from you."

_Doubt it, _thought Maura as Angela closed the front door and retreated back to her guest house.

* * *

><p>"None of the fathers are the girls biological father."<p>

"Damn," Jane bit down on her knuckle and looked at Maura's results. She had sucked in as much of her pride as she could and came down herself instead of sending Frost. Most of the night Jane laid tangled in her sheets thinking about the many ways she wouldn't be able to prove herself to Maura. It drove her crazy and when her alarm at the side of the bed struck four in the morning, she tore her sheets back, pulled on her running clothes and took off down her street until the sun rose. "We're going to have to get a warrant for the clinic's records."

"I don't know." Maura hummed, walking back over to her computer. "All of the girls share 50% of their DNA. Perhaps their father is in the system already. If I put one of their samples into the system and broaden the search to find _any _genetic matchers, maybe we can find a relative."

"Sounds like a stretch to me. It also sounds borderline illegal." Jane paused. "Do it."

"Are you sure?"

"We need to catch this son of a bitch. I don't have anything else to go on,"

Maura rolled her chair back and looked at Jane. "How are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean are you in a good mood or a bad mood?"

"I don't have time for your cryptic questions, Maur." Jane began to turn around but Maura gripped her wrist. It shocked Jane into stopping. Awkwardly, Maura let go and looked away.

"Your mom wants us all to have dinner." she said. "Friday."

Jane shook her head. "No."

"Jane-"

"No, Maura. See, this just might be another reason why we would never work."

"Because of your mother?"

"Yes, exactly because of my mother. Living at your _house._"

"Guest house," corrected Maura. "It's like she's not even there."

Jane rolled her eyes. "So when did you talk to her?"

"She was there last night when I got ho-" Realizing Jane was trapping her, Maura stopped talking. Jane just nodded and smirked. "Please. She is very excited about this."

"Of course she's excited about it." groaned Jane. "Whatever, I'll go. But only because I don't want to have to listen to her griping for the next month." She turned around and began to walk out of the autopsy room. Something clicked inside of Maura. Smiling slightly to herself and turning around so Jane wouldn't see her face when she turned around, Maura called out.

"Angela has asked me to bring a date." Maura could hear Jane's feet shuffling backwards. "To bring you one, as well."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Are you bringing a date?"

The way Jane's voice crackled at the word date made Maura smile. "I haven't anyone in mind,"

"Oh really?"

Maura turned around to face Jane. The taller detective looked down into the doctors eyes. "How can I prove it to you?" she whispered huskily.

"I don't know," replied Maura honestly. The two took a few steps closer to each other. Maura let her hand come up and cup Jane's face. Her skin was remarkably smooth. They stared at each other for a few moments before letting their bodies dance with each other just slightly, just enough for them to comfortably fold together. "Is this okay?" Maura asked. Jane didn't say anything. She let her fingers trace down Maura's arm and rest on her hand. "Jane-"

"I do like you," said Jane.

Heart heavy with nerves, Maura didn't reply. Her eyes flickered upwards to meet Jane's and just as Maura leaned in to meet Jane's kiss, Jane pulled back and cleared her throat. The door to Maura's office pulled open and Frankie stepped in, three brown bags tucked in his hands. He tossed one at Jane and one at Maura, apparently oblivious to what he interrupted. Jane was looking frantically between Frankie and Maura.

"Mom brought lunch," he grunted, plopping down in a seat and opening his own bag. "Guess you're one of us now, Maura." Frankie chuckled and took a bite of his sandwich.

"I'm sorry." blurted Jane, looking at Maura. Frankie laughed again and with a mouth full of food nodded.

"Don't tell her sorry yet," he said, clearly not understanding what was going on between the two girls. He examined his sandwich corners again for the most ample supply of peanut butter and took another bite. "I heard about dinner. Give your apology after that,"

"Shouldn't you be somewhere?" snapped Jane. "Your job, maybe?"

"I came to visit my sister!" he kissed her cheek. "I brought you food."

"I have a case," Jane mumbled and excused herself from the room. Frankie took one last bite of his sandwich and looked at Maura who was still standing with the brown bag between her fingers.

"What's with her?" he pointed towards where Jane stood moments ago.

Maura frowned. "I haven't any idea. Perhaps she is menstruating." Frankie groaned and scrambled away from the room, casting great looks of disgust in Maura's direction. When she was sure that he was gone, Maura sunk into her office chair and closed her eyes.

She was dreading Friday.


	5. Rewind

"Maura!" Jane pounded her fist against Maura's large oak door and leaned up against the side of the house. She had been standing on the porch amongst the bugs flittering near Maura's porch light for nearly ten minutes now. The lights at the guest house were on and Jane kept anxiously looking over to watch if her mother came out. Though Angela Rizzoli was the least of her worries at the moment, Jane wasn't keen to the idea of her mother finding out she and Maura were fighting. Both as loudly and quietly as Jane could muster, she banged on the door once more and let her index finger hold down the doorbell. Finally the door swung open and a highly perturbed Maura Isles came into frame.

"I'll call the police."

Jane pushed her way inside. "I _am _the police."

"Fine, I will call a better police officer." Even Maura grimaced at her words, knowing that even in the context of a joke that was going too far. "Sorry."

"S'okay."

"You can go now," said Maura.

"I don't want to."

Sighing, Maura shut her front door and swatted a nasty mosquito from the air. "Why are you here, Jane?"

"We should talk."

"I don't think we really have anything else to talk about."

"Earlier..."

"Oh," Maura pretended to only just remember. "Earlier, right. When you practically catapulted yourself away from me when Frankie walked into my office."

"We were about to kiss."

"I was there. I remember."

"That's not how you tell your brother you're in love with a girl, Maura! Christ," Jane twirled around to go sit on the couch and caught herself just in time from tripping over Bass. A few expletives flew from her mouth as she regained her balance, leveraging herself on Maura's (probably very expensive) new coffee table. She let herself fall backwards onto the plush couch, her hands gesticulating her very obvious frustration. "I mean, come on. You can't expect me to let my brother find me making out with you. Give me some credit, Maur. I told you I like you. I told you I want this."

"You act as if you don't!"

"No," Jane held up a finger. "That's not how I act. I act as though I don't want the entire city of Boston knowing about my personal life."

"You aren't that popular."

"You know what I meant," groaned Jane. "I couldn't just let Frankie see me kissing you."

"I am sure you have let him see you kiss a guy before."

"It's different."

"How?"

"Well, for one thing, you're a girl."

Maura frowned. "Really? It's not as though they wouldn't accept you, Jane. You have a very warm and loving family."

Sighing into her hands, Jane brought them up and scraped her fingers through her scalp. "That's not how you tell your family you're gay. Or bi-sexual," she added, seeing the look on Maura's face. "It just isn't how it's done."

"Tell me then, Jane. How is it done?"

"Well," Jane bit her lip. She never quite got this far in her plan of coming over to Maura's. At best, she had anticipated the door to be slammed in her face. Actually being inside of the house was far more productive than she ever had imagined being able to accomplish. Talking to Maura, _really _talking to Maura, never crossed her mind. "I don't want to give my family a heart attack. You don't get it, Maura. Family pressure. Honestly, Ma's been breathing down my throat to have kids for years now. I don't even know what she would say when she realizes I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? I would like a child one day, perhaps." Maura chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip. "Yes, I'd like a child."

"You're the scientist, Maura." Jane raised an eyebrow. "That is a little bit impossible."

"Many homosexual couples adopt children." said Maura. "Though it is sometimes hard to do so. Homosexuality in the United States has come very far in the past few years but unfortunately the religious stigma against such couples leads to difficulty when it comes to adopting children."

"I- what? You want kids?"

"Did something give you the impression that I wouldn't want kids one day?"

"Well," Jane stood up. "Yeah, I guess. Kids are messy, Maur. They don't want to wear designer clothes until their teen years, you know? Half the time they're wearing mismatched socks and their underwear is on backwards. They live on peanut butter and jelly, not filet mignon."

Her chest puffing out and cheeks reddening, Maura folded her arms defensively. "I am well aware of what a child does and how it acts and what it enjoys to eat."

"It."

"I mean he or she."

"I'm just saying," Jane muttered. "You've never struck me as the wanting kids type."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Want kids?"

"We're not even a couple and we're having this discussion." deadpanned Jane. "I'm sorry for earlier. Truly, truly sorry. I wanted to kiss you. I left because I was angry Frankie interrupted," Jane took Maura's hand and squeezed. "If I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't be standing here. I would have just told you no. But telling my family, telling our friends..." she faded off. "It's going to have to be right. The way I tell them, you know. It has to be the right time. You don't get it-"

Maura yanked her hand away from Jane. "That is the second time you have said that I wouldn't _get it. _What exactly is it that I wouldn't get?"

"I," Jane stuttered. "The pressure. Family pressure, you know. Your parents wouldn't care. They're never around. You don't have to worry about that."

Jane realized very quickly that she had said something wrong. Maura threw her hands down to her side and narrowed her eyes at Jane. "That's what you think? That I don't care what my parents think? That they wouldn't care? Do you know that little about me?"

"You never seem to care what they think."

"Of course I _care._" Maura spat. "You think I'm not afraid of what my parents will think when I bring you home to them? You don't realize that I worry every day that _they've _realized they chose the wrong child?"

"Chose the wrong-" Jane tried wrapping her head around Maura's words. "No, Maura. They didn't choose the wrong kid. You're perfect."

The moment had come. Maura had finally been reduced to her gentle sobs. It had taken her longer than usual; normally, Maura is a crier. It always made Jane slightly uncomfortable. Fat tears rolled down Maura's cheeks and she swiped away at them angrily. As Jane came forward to wrap Maura in a hug, she was pushed away. "Please, don't."

"Just let me-"

"No. Jane, they didn't choose the right kid. They could have found a child that could emotionally connect with them. A child that was socially adequate," Maura began pacing. "They wanted a child to share their fortune with. Someone to give them grandchildren and a namesake. I haven't been able to give them any of that. They wanted a little girl who could grow into a woman with the ability to love."

Jane looked at Maura seriously. "You can love, Maura."

"I am just as apprehensive about discussing our relationship with my parents." she said in a huff. "Just as much as you are with yours. It terrifies me," Maura shuddered. "-to think that I can give them one more reason to regret choosing me. But you, Jane. Your mother and father love you so much and you take it for granted,"

"Excuse me?"

"You do. You harp and complain about your mother so often it's actually tiring." Maura swiped another tear from her face. "For whatever reason, Jane, you never see what is exactly in front of you. You're always looking for the trouble in everything. With your family, with your job. Now with our relationship. I want you. _You. _But you're so busy behaving like a school girl afraid of being caught that you can't give in to this. You're looking for trouble where there isn't any. Quite frankly, I don't want to be looked at as trouble in your life."

Jane rolled her eyes and groaned. "You're not trouble."

"You say that now," whispered Maura. "When we're here alone in my house. Right now I could walk over to you and kiss you and I am very confident that you would kiss back. We could go to my bedroom and do all the things I have been wanting to do with you for many months now. But if your mother were to walk in here this very second, you would be standing across the room from me. Your hand wouldn't be in mine," Maura let go of her hand. "We would be what we never have been. Just friends."

"Can't we just," Jane groaned and dug through her brain for the right words. "-can we just, I don't know, start over?"

"I would very much like that." muttered Maura. "Let's start over. We're just friends."

"No, wait!" Jane protested. "No, I meant. Maura, I want to try this. I do."

Maura shook her head. "Jane, I don't think this is going to work. As badly as I want it to work," she froze on her words and turned away from Jane. "These emotions...I'm not used to them. I am not used to being unable to form coherent sentences. I don't like being mad at you for things that are understandably difficult for you. So if having all of you means having none of you at the same time, I would much rather return to our previous relationship."

"Can we do that?" Jane asked bitterly. "Just go back to how we were? After all of this?"

"I certainly hope so." Maura turned on her heels and began ascending up her stairs before Jane could say anything further. "I have an early morning tomorrow. I will see you tomorrow evening for dinner with your family,"

"Maur-"

"Goodnight."

**Review and let me know what you think so far. I'd really appreciate it. Dinner next chapter!**


	6. Dinner

Jane fidgeted nervously in her dress. It was a very well known rule that to attend a Rizzoli family dinner you needed to look better than you did the last time anyone saw you. Normally, Jane didn't accommodate this rule nor did she give in to her mothers wishes that her wardrobe was stocked with more knee-cut dresses than army styled boots and jeans. But after a hard day at work consisting of zero interaction with Maura Isles, Jane wanted to look her best. She wanted to feel her best. And even though feeling her best was normally in jeans and a t-shirt, Jane needed to know she was making Maura's head turn. So Jane left work early and dove headfirst into her small closet, tossing out as many clothes as she could so she could reach the back where the few dresses she owned hung. Three hours later, Jane slipped into a bright red knee length dress that hugged her body. She felt completely unnatural in it and as Jane stared at herself in the mirror, she wished more than anything that she had more curves and less resembled a pole. She left her hair down and applied just a touch of makeup. It was enough to give her more of a shine, but not enough that her mother would notice something peculiar.

"You can do this." Jane said to herself as she checked her makeup one last time in her car mirror. Maura's house looked increasingly foreboding as she walked up the walk. All the lights in the guest house were off so Jane knew that her mother was already inside the main house cooking. Frankie's car was parked crookedly in the drive and had Jane been in a better mood she would have messed with him and wrote up a ticket just as a joke. She passed by, however, and rang the doorbell. Much to her relief it was Frankie that answered. He gave her the traditional Rizzoli 'are you ready for this?' grin and welcomed her inside. Jane tossed her jacket on the coat rack.

"Damn," chuckled Frankie. "Who you tryin' to impress?"

"No one," spat Jane defensively. "It was the only thing I had clean. Other than my yoga outfit, and I think Ma would throw a pan at my head if I showed up in a sports bra and sweat pants." Jane walked from the door with Frankie and went into the kitchen. Maura was behind the counter with Angela chopping vegetables. A covered pan of something was already sizzling on the stove. Light, airy music played from the stereo across the room. Maura was laughing; a genuine, happy laugh that Jane hadn't heard in a long time. She cleared her throat. Angela looked up and grinned but Maura's smile was lackluster. She tried her best to send Jane a happy smile, one that would have been there before in their undisturbed friendship, but the most she could do was thin lips barely curved. "Hey," Jane breathed.

"Hello." said Maura politely as she looked back down at the carrots she was chopping.

"Well don't you look fancy," admired Angela. She looked her daughter up and down. "Did I buy you that?"

"I don't know where I got it," lied Jane. She knew perfectly well where she got this dress. Maura had bought it for her several months back. Truthfully, Jane only wanted a reaction from Maura. It was exactly what she got. At the sound of Angela's approving tones, Maura finally really looked at Jane. Her mouth fell a little. "But it was the only thing I had clean." As she said it, Jane stared directly into Maura's eyes. She knew Maura knew that it was a lie. Jane didn't care.

"Stop doing laundry then if this is what you look like when you have nothing else to wear!" huffed Angela, spinning back around to her dinner. "Figured the doctor had dressed you when you first walked in lookin' like that."

Jane frowned. "I'm perfectly able to dress myself." she looked over at Maura. "Do you have any beer?"

"Fridge." she said quietly. Jane muttered a thanks. Somewhere in the background the doorbell rang. Both Maura and Jane looked up at each other and then at Angela.

"Ma, who is at the door?"

"Hm?" hummed Angela. She didn't look up from the pot she was stirring.

"The door." pressed Jane again. "Did you invite someone we don't know about?"

"Well," Angela dropped a handful of vegetables in the steaming pot and put the lid back on. "We have all this food and I just thought it would be nice to share it."

"Who did you invite, Ma?" Jane's insides were beginning to twist. There was laughing in the doorway. Without looking at Maura, Jane peeked around the corner. To Maura's surprise, Jane broke out in a stunning smile and threw her arms around the gentlemen that had walked in the door. They hugged for a few moments before Jane pulled away, still smiling.

"PB," she grinned.

"And J."

"Hell, what are you doin' here, Pete?"

He grinned and tossed an arm lazily around Jane's shoulders. Jane guided him back towards the counter where Angela was smiling happily. Maura looked less than enthused. "Ran into your mom here at the super market the other day." he said. "I just moved back into town." Pete thrust a hand out towards Maura. She looked at it for a moment before slowly raising her own hand and gripping his. Hard. "Peter Bryson."

"Maura Isles." Maura said briskly. "I work with Jane."

"Ah, so you're a cop."

"Forensic pathologist." corrected Maura. Pete raised an eyebrow and looked at Jane.

Cracking open a beer and handing it to him, she explained. "Maura cuts up dead people."

With an irritated frown on her face, Maura glared at Jane. "I do not _cut up dead people. _I determine the cause of death through examining a corpse. From an autopsy I am able to conclude whether a death was a homicide, accidental, natural, suicide or in some cases it can be undetermined. You do not need to go through anatomical pathology training nor specialize in forensic pathology to cut up dead people." she snapped.

"Maura is very good at what she does." Jane sent Maura a look. "Anyways, what have you been up to? What happened after your dad got moved to a different base?"

Pete took a long sip of his beer and swiped his mouth. "Ah, ya know. Mom got sick and I took care of her and Lucy for a while. Went to college but it just wasn't for me. I'm a journalist right now for a small paper. I free-lance, mostly." Jane shriveled up her nose. "What's that for?"

"You're a journalist."

"So?"

"I'm a cop."

"Yeah?"

"On principle, I have to hate you."

"And why is that?"

"Because journalists ruin everything for cops." said Jane simply, chancing a grin at Maura. Maura returned it as warmly as she possibly could then took a long, drawn out sip of her wine. "Me and Maur had a case once-"

"Maura and I." corrected Maura.

"_Maura and I," _Jane mumbled. "We had this case a few weeks ago. It was all hush, hush, you know? Supposed to be anyway. Some stupid ass-"

"-language-"

"-journalist came in and got word of the case by listening to our radios. Story was front page the next morning. Our guy got away."

"Ever catch him?"

"Nope. Still out there, but I bet he's gone by now. Scared him too much."

"I suppose, then," Pete said kindly. "That it's a good thing I mostly write advice columns and weather reports. Without a college education you can't get too much work. I write for some websites but it's mostly entertainment crap, you know? Nothing fancy." He nursed his beer and took a seat at one of Maura's barstools. Jane saw Maura flinch as he sat next to her. "So what about you? Angela here tells me that you're some big shot detective around Boston now."

Jane took the seat opposite Pete but didn't forget to brush past Maura's arm. She felt Maura stiffen and smiled to herself. "I'm a homicide detective, yeah. It's tough."

"Just don't go doin' something stupid, J. I know you."

"Too late." cracked Jane. Frankie came back into the room and stole a carrot from Angela's vegetable tray that was still being built.

"Ain't that the truth," Frankie chomped on the carrot and swallowed. "Jane shot through herself to nab a guy. Killed him. Nearly killed her. Idiot."

"To save you!" Jane shouted defensively, whacking the next carrot out of his hand. It flew across the floor and smack Bass on the shell. Maura glared at Jane and picked the carrot up. "You're the one that went and got yourself shot."

Frankie brushed it off and smiled. "Yeah, but I had the doc over here workin' on me. I was in good hands, right Maur?" Maura didn't say anything. She dumped the carrot in the trash and went to her fridge to get strawberries for Bass. Maura hated when Frankie and Jane joked about that day. It still gave Maura nightmares. Jane nearly bled out in her arms.

"Never a dull moment with the Rizzoli's." Pete smiled.

"Not even after fifteen years." Jane replied. "Man, I can't even believe you're here. I still remember when you left."

"Told you I'd come back for you, J." The room quieted. Jane and Pete stared at each other serenely for a moment before breaking away. "Besides, you're the one that stopped answering my letters."

Jane tipped her beer at him and smiled. "That's because you became a complete jackass."

"Jane," Angela shot her daughter a disapproving look.

"What? It's true. You got that girlfriend...oh God, what was her name?"

Pete began laughing. "Maria. Yeah, Maria."

"Her. You acted like a love-struck puppy. It got annoying."

"So did you and Jane date?" asked Maura abruptly. Pete looked up and stared at her, for the first time remembering that Maura was even there. Even Jane was startled to hear Maura's voice. "I mean, when you knew each other. I ask because you two seem very fond of each other and most often when two people share a past and have nicknames for each other that is a sign that there was once a sexual relationship."

Pete looked at Jane as if asking her silently if Maura was for real. He laughed awkwardly. "Uh, yeah. We dated. Briefly."

"Yeah, briefly being the key word." Jane mumbled into her beer.

"Janie, you never told Maura about Petey?"

"Yeah, Janie. You never told Maura about me?"

"Piss off," Jane said to Pete. "No, Ma. I didn't. I just never really thought 'bout it."

Angela immediately turned over to Maura and thrust the stirring spoon in Jane's direction. Jane reluctantly took over her mothers cooking as Angela poured herself some wine and began explaining to Maura. "Janie and Petey met in the fourth grade. It was so _cute. _They ran around the neighborhood all the time together on their bikes. Completely inseparable. We were neighbors with Pete's parents, by the way. Nice military family. Always helpin' out with neighborhood block parties and all that." she took a long sip of wine and gazed at the ceiling as though recalling very fond memories. "I remember Pete you used to come over for dinner nearly three times a week by the time middle school rolled around."

"No one can resist your cooking," he pecked her on the cheek and sauntered behind the counter to begin helping Jane with slicing the bread that Jane had just pulled from the oven.

"Well they were a little couple in eighth grade. It was so cute-"

"Ma!" Jane warned.

"I caught them kissing in a closet once at Janie's thirteenth birthday party."

"_Ma!" _screeched Jane.

"And then Petey's dad got stationed in Texas in the tenth grade and off they went." she sighed sadly. "I always thought you too would get married."

Jane groaned. "Ma, you thought I'd marry every guy I dated."

"But you and Pete were special!" Maura's stomach dropped as she watched Jane and Pete exchange secret, furtive glances. They smiled at one another and shared a laugh. Jane caught Maura staring and frowned. "Anyway, maybe tonight can change history!"

"Stop making things weird, Ma." hissed Jane. She looked apologetically at Maura but Maura shrugged it off and slipped over to the sofa where Frankie was sitting. She sank down into the cushions and crossed her legs politely. Frankie barely looked up from the sports channel but when he heard her sigh dramatically he glanced at her.

"Somethin' wrong?"

Not wanting to lie, Maura evaded his question and instead asked one of her own. "Did Angela invite Peter here in hopes of him and Jane rekindling their former romance?"

Frankie laughed into his beer. "If you wanna call that a former romance, go for it." he swallowed and wiped his mouth. "They were best friends first. Bet the only time they kissed was in that stupid closet story Ma loves tellin'. But yeah, she probably invited him hopin' to start something between him and Jane. Ain't a Friday night dinna without Ma tryin'a marry off Jane." Frankie stretched out his arms and cracked his neck. "Why? Don't like 'im?"

"He seems very nice." Maura said lightly. "Jane and Peter seem to share many compatible traits. They both enjoy beer and seem to like the simpler things in life."

Frankie shrugged. "I guess. But if Ma's tryin' to hook her up with him, she probably won't go for it. She usually sheds away from what Ma wants."

"That is true." Maura bit her lip. "Frankie, it isn't often that I admit to making a mistake but I think I have made one and I would really like to correct it."

"Uh, okay." he looked at her strangely. It wasn't often that he and Maura shared information other than something case related. "What was your mistake?"

"It wouldn't be prudent to discuss the details of the mistake with you." she said hurriedly. "But what does someone do when they've made a mistake regarding love? Or, in this case, being selfish with their love?"

"You're talkin' to the wrong guy, Maura."

"I think I've been selfish. I've wanted something and I pushed for it and then when it didn't go exactly how I wanted it I threw it all away."

"Well," Frankie said awkwardly, standing up and brushing something off his jeans. "When people are selfish, they usually apologize." He walked back towards the kitchen to grab another beer. Maura watched as he and Peter exchanged words and laughed. Jane was laughing too and Angela watched with idle fascination at how wonderfully happy her daughter seemed to be.

Maura stood up and scooted away from the company and upstairs to her bedroom as quietly as she possibly could. In the privacy of her own room, Maura slipped down to the floor in front of her full length mirror and stared at herself hoping to find the answers that she so desperately needed. Maura had always had the answers to everything. Not having any scared her.

Frightened her.

Terrified her.

It wasn't often that Maura admitted to being scared or lost. But somewhere around the time that Maura fell in love with Jane, she lost the answers to her questions. Maura didn't understand what it was about Jane that made her so helpless. It was like Maura was seeing the world for the first time. The human world, at least. A soft knock on her door frame startled Maura out of her thinking. She looked up and saw Jane hunched in the archway, her shoulder pressing into the door. Jane looked at Maura curiously for a moment before kneeling down beside her and tucking a stray tendril of Maura's hair behind her ear.

"What's wrong, Maur?"

"I'm so sorry."

Taken aback, Jane stood up and extended a hand for Maura to hold on to as she stood. Maura shook her head and stood up by herself. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I pushed you." Maura began to cry. "I pushed you into _this. _Whatever this is. I wanted it so badly. And then when things didn't go my way or how I had imagined them to go, I began to back out. That is so unfair to you. I'm just so use to things happening my way. I'm so used to knowing all the answers, Jane. You throw everything I know out the window." She batted furiously at the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I was selfish and immature and I am sorry."

"You don't have to-"

"I never wanted to take away our friendship and I am so afraid that I've ruined everything by being emotionally unhinged. I've never been very good at any of this."

"You haven't ruined anything. I mean, down there...it's been okay, hasn't it? I thought it was going alright. You said you wanted to go back and be friends, right?"

Maura sniffled. "I don't know if I can do that, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how." Maura said honestly. "You look stunning, Jane. Really. That dress looks gorgeous on you and it's been driving me crazy all night. When you touch me, I feel something. I don't know what it is-"

"-butterflies?"

"I've never understood that term. Butterflies couldn't live in a humans stomach."

"It's just a saying, Maura. It isn't literal."

"My point is," Maura pressed on. "You make me question everything I've ever wanted in my life, everything I thought I would need. I forcibly kicked down a door in our relationship that I'm afraid is broken beyond repair. I can't just go back to being friends with you, Jane."

"I said I wanted a relationship with you." Jane said hotly. "I said that."

"Peter is lovely." Maura mumbled sadly. "He really is. You two have quite the history. Angela clearly adores him. And Jane, you look so happy around him."

"Peter-" Shaking her head, Jane wagged her finger in the air. "No. Maura, you can't honestly...my _mother _invited him here. I haven't seen Pete in fifteen years. It was a high school fling."

"I care so much for you." said Maura. "I didn't think it was possible to care so much for another human being. For a family, really. I love you and your family. I love being a part of this. But I know you, Jane. Or at least I like to think I do. You want something normal. You need something that you consider... _proper. _You've had a vision for your life. I think Peter is a part of that. And if not Peter, another man. A _man, _Jane. Someone who can fulfill the fantasy that I know you set for yourself as a child. I don't want to take that away from you. I am so sorry that I ruined what our friendship could have been. I wish I could take back the things I did and the things that I said to you mostly because maybe then I wouldn't feel as hurt as I do right now. Not because of you, but because of me."

"Maura-"

"Girls!" Angela yelled up the stairs. "Come on, dinner's ready. Table is set!"

"We should go." Maura made to walk past Jane and out the door but Jane grabbed her arm. "Jane, please let go of me." she pleaded.

"Maura, we need to talk about this. I don't-"

"I have learned a lot of things from you, Jane. But I think by far one of the most important is never be late for a Rizzoli family dinner." Maura smiled at her and detached Jane's hand from her arm.

Downstairs, Maura took her normal seat at the table. Jane followed closely behind and took a seat next to Maura like she normally would. The table was already beautifully set and steaming tray's of baked gnocchi were laid out with baskets of rolls and sliced freshly baked bread. Frankie was already piling gnocchi on his plate and tearing into a thick piece of bread. Peter shoveled a large helping on his own plate and then passed the spoon to Angela.

"This looks wonderful, Angela." Maura said quietly as she put a small portion on her plate. She didn't feel very hungry anymore.

"So tell me, Maura." said Peter. "How is it working with the stubborn Jane Rizzoli?"

Maura glanced at her glass of wine uncomfortably. "It's wonderful. Jane is very good at her job."

"Oh hey, Jane. You get those reports I filed?" asked Frankie with a mouthful of steaming pasta. Jane nodded and forked a piece of her own food.

"Yeah but I'm not promising you anything."

"I just want to work homicide, c'mon."

"We could use some more power on this case so I'll let you in for now." Jane mumbled. "But after that it's back downstairs."

Frankie sighed and nodded. "Maura, you get anything from the tox report?"

"Nothing unusual in their systems." she said quietly.

"Kids, no talking about work at the dinner table!" Angela scoffed. "Janie, put a napkin on your lap. That dress is too pretty to risk spilling on it."

Sighing, Jane dropped the napkin in her lap. She began pushing the gnocchi around her plate absentmindedly as the conversation left her and instead went to Maura, Peter and Angela. Jane mostly tuned them out and instead focused on her own thoughts. Underneath the table she felt the slight tap of another foot on her own. Looking up, she saw Peter smiling at her. His foot rubbed against hers again. Jane suddenly tossed down her fork and pushed her chair back.

"Jane?"

Jane stood up and stared down at Maura. "Stand up."

"Pardon?"

"Stand up. Right now."

"Jane-"

"Stand up!"

Placing her fork down, Maura pushed her chair back and cast polite glances at Angela, Peter and Frankie who were all looking very strangely at Jane. "Jane, what are you doing? You are being rude."

"Mom, I need you to stop trying to fix me up on dates." Jane said bluntly. "I know you mean well, you want me to find a husband, settle down, yadda yadda. I get it. But I don't want to date Joey or Rick or Mike or Jason or Leo or Tyler or Brian or Adam or any other guy you bring in here. And Peter, I love you. I'll always love you and I'm really excited that you're back in town but I don't want to date you. I'm sorry. Frankie-" Jane turned to Frankie and then furrowed her brow. "Well, actually, I really have nothin' to say to you. But you do have sauce on your chin,"

"Jane-" Maura tugged on Jane's arm. "Maybe you should sit."

"No, Maura. You said upstairs that you didn't want to ruin our friendship. You said you didn't want to ruin this idea that I had for myself. Well quite honestly, you already have." Hurt flashed across Maura's face. "Wait, that came out wrong. I mean in a good way. A _good _way," Jane said quickly. "You changed me and I like it. Maybe I've changed you too. My point is, I had a vision for my life when I was a kid and now I have another one. I like this better." Jane slid her hand down and found Maura's. She then turned to Angela and put on the bravest smile she could muster. "Ma, I'm not getting married to a guy. Not to Peter or anyone else. Me and Maura, we're going to try it out. We're going to try being something. If anyone at this table has any problem with it, you can leave." she said forcefully. "Now."

Franke busted out into rolling laughter. Jane looked at him incredulously. "I-I'm sorry," he wiped a few tears from the sides of his eyes. "But, I just..." he coughed. "It took you two way too long. And man, am I going to be rich. Beers on me this weekend at the Dirty Robber."

"What?"

"Me, Korsack and Frost had a pool going. They figured neither of you would fess up and admit it. Bet nearly their entire paycheck on it,"

Jane reached down into one of the baskets and chucked a roll at Frankie, which hit him straight between the eyes. "You asshole."

"Jane!" shouted Angela and Maura at the same time.

"So," Angela huffed. "You two are...what?"

"In a relationship." said Jane matter-of-factly.

Angela paused and put her fork down. All eyes in the room were on her. "I don't know why you had to make such a big deal out of it," she finally said. "Always a big deal with you, Jane. I still expect at least two grandbabies and a wedding."

"I-what?"

"Sit down and eat before your food gets cold!"

Maura and Jane each took their seats, not daring to look at one another for fear of laughing. Maura felt absolutely giddy and Jane, a significant weight lifted off her chest, speared a piece of gnocchi and smiled as she chewed.

"Well," said Peter, chewing thoughtfully. "Like I said earlier. It's never a dull moment at the Rizzoli's."

**I was thinking of ending the story here. Let me know what you think in the comments. Should it continue or is this a nice spot to end? **


	7. The Bad Guy

"Goodnight, Ma." Jane practically shoved her mother out the door. Angela had been doing everything in her power to stay later, but as the clock struck midnight and the dishes were placed away in their respective cupboards Angela couldn't find anymore reasons to stick around. Maura thanked her again for her lovely cooking as Jane ushered her mother out of the house. She waited until she could see the lights flick on in the guest house before turning and looking at Maura. They had barely enough time to think, let alone talk, about what Jane revealed at dinner. With a sneaky smile, Jane walked over to Maura and pushed her lightly up against the wall. "Hi."

"Hello," breathed Maura. She was slightly shorter than Jane so her head was tipped upwards just enough so her mouth was level with Jane's chin. Jane tipped down and pressed a light, airy kiss to Maura's lips. It was just long enough for Maura to blink. "Please don't tell me you're changing your mind." she murmured against the soft flesh of Jane's lips.

"Never."

"Then-"

"We should talk, shouldn't we?"

"There is so much I'd rather be doing." admitted Maura.

Grinning, Jane pulled Maura's arm and led her to the couch. "You're alright with this, then?"

"This is what you really want? What you said at dinner, that as real?"

"I've never been more truthful about anything."

"Then yes. I am more than okay with us." Maura slid on top of Jane's lap and let her arms wrap around Jane's neck. She leaned down and first kissed Jane's lips and then down her neck and across her collarbone. The ticking of the grandfather clock in Maura's living room gave Maura some sort of rhythm. She continued to kiss every small bit of exposed skin that she could.

Jane didn't object. Her hands gripped Maura's waist tightly as if letting go would mean forever. "Wait, wait." Maura broke from her kisses and looked at Jane curiously. "This is weird. The turtle is watching us."

"_Tortoise." _

"Look, it's staring!"

"Oh please."

"Maura." pouted Jane.

With a soft groan, Maura slid off Jane's lap and stood up. "I guess we'll just have to continue in my bedroom." It was the most devilishly innocent voice Jane had ever heard Maura use. Her stomach did flips as Maura snaked a hand around her back and began unzipping the body length zipper that ran down her dress. Jane leapt up immediately and stopped Maura's hand from going any further. Maura frowned.

"I want to do that." Jane whispered huskily. She took Maura's hand and led the short blonde up the stairs and down the hallway towards the bedroom Jane had already frequented many times before. They fell back onto the bed with ease, Maura wiggling up towards the pillows as Jane kissed her. Their lips crashed against each other in a fit of repressed emotion. Just as Jane slid a hand behind Maura to find the zipper to her dress, her cell phone buzzed loudly from the side table.

"Ignore it," Maura mumbled through a brief moment of air. Jane just nodded and began kissing down Maura's neck, her hand still working clumsily on the zipper. She had reached the end of the zipper line when Maura's phone began ringing from the next room.

Jane sighed impatiently. Anyone calling both she and Maura at well past midnight had a very good reason to be getting in touch with them. "I swear if it's my mother," she grumbled angrily. Jane rolled off Maura and snapped her phone up from the desk. She had three missed calls from Korsack. Attempting to stand with her dress still in place, Maura struggled from the room to find her own phone that was charging in her bathroom.

"This better be important, Korsack." hissed Jane into the phone when Korsack picked up.

"_We have a fourth victim. You know where the Doc is? I don't want to have to call in a different ME. Maura knows the case." _

"Yeah," Jane sighed and wiped her eyes. "Yeah, I'm at her place right now. Where you guys at?"

"_Fifth and Buckner." _Korsack sounded well past the point of exhaustion. _"Might want to prepare yourself for this one, Jane. It ain't pretty." _

"They never are." Jane ended the call and found Maura in her bathroom already changed into something more suitable for a crime scene. She had thrown her hair up into a messy pony tail and redone touches of her makeup. "Heard the news?"

Maura nodded. "Unfortunately."

"We should get going."

"Yes." The silence was overbearing. Jane's breathing was still shaky. Maura leaned forward and placed a simple, subtly kiss on her lips and pulled back. "We can finish this later?"

"Definitely."

* * *

><p>"Ah, hell." Jane blanketed her eyes with her hand to collect herself. Even Maura hesitated for a moment. Cops littered the alley way between the two brick buildings. Lights burned down towards where a body laid, lighting up the ground so no one treaded on evidence. A young girl with sandy blonde hair was laying sprawled out on the cold ground, her eyes closed and her lips parted just slightly as though she never got out her final scream. Like the three other girls back at Maura's lab, she had long, thick cuts trailing down her stomach. "She can't be more than fourteen."<p>

"Judging by rigor mortis," Maura knelt down next to the victim and first examined her eyelids, pulling them up slightly, and then traveled downward. "I would say she's been dead for approximately three hours. It hasn't fully set in yet. Do you see how the eyes have a thin, cloudy film over them?" Jane nodded. "When death occurs, there is less fluid pressure behind the eye causing the eye to become softer. In turn, that produces the cloudy like appearance. It occurs but three hours after time of death. I'm confident that she was killed very recently."

Jane swallowed hard and knelt down next to Maura, her mouth whispering in her ear. "Was she raped like the others?"

"I won't know until I get her on my table."

"Can you guess?"

Maura stared hard at Jane. "You know better."

"Who found the body?" Jane stood up and walked to the other detective's and crime scene technicians that were on the scene. "Honestly, who finds a body a midnight."

Frost flipped open his hand held notebook and scribbled something down that Korsack was saying. "I guess a couple of kids robbed that convenience store down the street there," he pointed to a store with a broken window just down the road. A few cops were talking to, presumably, the store owner. A 24-hour sign flickered in the window. "Didn't realize a couple of cops were just about to come in to buy a pack of smokes. Took off running," he pointed his finger and traced out their path in the air. "-down here with the cops on foot behind them. Turned down this alley and jumped the wall. They dislodged a bunch of trash bags which unveiled the body. Officer..." he looked down at his notes. "Leeland stopped just in time. A step further and he would have tripped over her."

"Where are the kids?"

"Probably smokin' a joint in their basement by now," Frost muttered. "Cops called in the girl right away and let the kids get off. Shop owner isn't too please that they got away with a case of beer, but..."

"Yeah, tell him I'll buy him a case of beer as soon as I'm done solving this fourteen year old girls murder." Jane stalked away and found a crime scene truck. She ordered more lights to be set up. It was midnight and there was barely enough light to properly examine her hands, let alone a crime scene. The disgruntled technician cast her a dirty look and unloaded more lights from his truck. Jane went back to Maura and observed her work.

"I'll permit the body to be moved as soon as it's photographed." she said to Jane, brushing off her pants and walking over to her.

"Why haven't we caught this guy?" Jane murmured.

"You'll get him, Jane."

"I don't get it." Circling the body, Jane looked down at everything on the ground. "Why dump the body here? And what is this guys motive? If the pattern fits, this girl is a sister of one of the others. So is it their father killing them? A relative that knows who their biological father is? Why are these girls being raped and murdered?"

Maura leaned in to Jane and let her head rest on Jane's shoulder. Her hand rubbed Jane's arm soothingly, as best she could. "You always get the bad guy."

"The problem is there is always another one to take his place."

**Decided to keep going. I want to finish up the case that they're working on. I really appreciate your feedback. It keeps me going! Thanks for your support.**


	8. Innocence

Jane laid her gun down on her desk and tossed her badge in the drawer. Leaning back in her chair, she buried her face in her hands. It was six o'clock in the morning and she had barely slept the night before; the young girls face haunted Jane every time she closed her eyes. At first Jane declined Maura's invitation to come back to her place, but the idea of sitting alone in her apartment brooding wasn't nearly as appealing as laying in Maura's arms, still brooding, but oddly satisfied with the feeling of safety Maura gave her. Though she laid awake most of the night, Jane struggled out of bed in the morning with a small sense of satisfaction. At least she was doing one thing right. Her and Maura were finally back on track. Now if only she could catch the bastard murdering young girls.

Before they broke for the night, Korsack, Frost and Jane hung all the girls photos up on the line so they would be ready to work the next morning. Jane pulled her hands from her face and stared at them all. Maura was already down in autopsy working on identification for their latest victim. Frost was half asleep at his desk pouring over notes that they had gone over hundred times before. Even Korsack was rereading a pile of notes. Most of them were running on four hours of sleep, tops, and that was if they had been able to fall asleep after coming home from the crime scene.

"Let's just go over the main facts." Jane said bluntly, gathering up the papers on her desk and walking over to the girls pictures. "We have four dead girls. If it follows the pattern, Jane Doe downstairs will be these girls sister. They all have the same father." She stared at the girls for a moment and then turned back towards Korsack and Frost. "All the parents used different fertility clinics. Frost, you finished running through the personnel at each clinic?"

"No one overlapped."

"The girls aren't the same ages," Jane muttered, mostly to herself. "These three are at least a year apart, each. And the girl downstairs can't be more than thirteen. That's plenty of time to job hop."

"None of the doctors or nurses were found working at all four clinics."

"So what's the connection?" Frustrated, Jane tossed the pen she was nibbling on down. "There has to be some sort of connection. This guy didn't just happen to produce these four girls, only for them to be murdered years later. That's not a coincidence. That's a clue." She turned around, popped a cap from a marker and rolled the white board over to the center of their desks. At the top of the board, Jane wrote each girls name and underlined it. "Rachel was twenty-two, right?" Frost nodded. "Kelly was twenty and Leah was nineteen. So Rachel is the oldest," She frowned and stared at the board. "Jane Doe is around thirteen or fourteen. How long do embryo's last before being implanted?"

"They can last for years."

"And do clinics trade...sperm? I mean, do they send containers around if another clinic is low?"

Frost snorted. "No, I don't think so."

"So did their biological father donate once or did he donate at each of these clinics?"

"He had to of donated and each clinic," Korsack said. "That's the only way. It's a quick buck, you know. 100 dollars per donation. Probably just a needy college student strapped for cash,"

Jane shook her head. "But if it was a college student, he would probably be going to the same place, right? All of these girls lived in different areas only to eventually be dumped in Boston. Rachel came from a different state and so did the clinic she was conceived at. Kelly was further up in the state and Leah was conceived in California and moved here to Boston when she was eleven. So are you telling me this guy spent hundreds of dollars on plane tickets and travel so he could get 100 bucks to jizz in a cup? Come on,"

"Well," Frost looked up at Jane, puzzled. "Maybe he started out in California. 18 years old, needed some money, so he donates." His eyes traveled across each girls picture. "Then his folks move out to Connecticut somewhere near where Rachel lives. He finished up high school and decides to go to school in Boston. There's probably a limitation on how many times you can donate per year. He probably just switched up clinics."

"That's a great guess, Frost, but I think we're going to need a little more to go on than that." snapped Jane. "No, it doesn't feel right. Something isn't right here." she turned around and began walking towards the door. Korsack called out.

"Where are you going?"

"Down to autopsy," Jane growled.

RIRIRIRIRI

"Maura, I need an ID." Jane busted through the autopsy room door, startling Maura out of her work. Maura looked up, saw the frazzled look on Jane's face, and set her scalpel down. She had barely even begun for the day.

"I only just got the body on my table, Jane."

Jane clenched her fists. "We need to get this guy, Maur." she walked over and looked Maura straight in the eyes. "Just get me some DNA."

"Jane-"

"We can't follow protocol right now," Jane pleaded. "Just swab her. Get her dentals, whatever. Let me take it up to the lab."

Maura frowned. "This case is really affecting you, isn't it?"

"I've never had a case so confusing before." Jane said honestly, her eyes averting Maura's. She walked over to Maura's desk and slid on top. "There isn't an evidence. No leads. Just four dead girls, all half-sisters. We don't have a single suspect or witness. I don't know if I'm going to solve this one."

"You will." insisted Maura, her legs quickly taking her over to Jane. She took Jane's hand and squeezed tightly. "You always do."

"Not always."

"You're the best detective in Boston." Maura said soothingly. "You can't possibly believe that you won't catch this man. Or woman, really. Look," she took Jane by her shoulders and made Jane look her in the eyes. "I'm going to do my job and you're going to do yours. I'll send some DNA with a tech in a little bit. And tonight," Maura forced a tiny smile. "You will come back to my place, I will cook us a wonderful dinner, and we will put our jobs aside for one evening." Jane smiled a little too and nodded.

"Get me that DNA asap,"

"We've got an ID!" The autopsy doors slid open and Frost came barreling in. He didn't even register Jane and Maura's proximity. Frost waved papers in Jane's face, which she snapped from his fingers, and after Jane had read through the files and Frost had caught his breath from running down to autopsy, Jane looked up at him. "Amanda Orely, age fourteen. She was last seen three days ago walking home from school. Parents reported her missing after she never came home."

"We sure it's her?"

"We won't be sure until we have DNA," Frost nodded at Maura. "But no other girls have gone missing in her age range the past few days and any girls taken in the past few months don't fit our bodies description. Plus," he pulled a photograph from his pocket and held it up to Jane. "Look at this."

Jane's mouth dropped open. "Holy crap,"

"What?" asked Maura, leaning in as best she could to get a glimpse of the photo.

"She looks just like her sisters." Jane said simply, outreaching her hand and taking the photo from Frost. Amanda was smiling at the camera, her legs straddling her bike and a backpack slung across her shoulder. Jane flipped the photograph over and in thin, neat cursive someone had written Amanda's first day of high school on it. She turned it back to look at Amanda again. Her hair was long and chestnut brown like her sisters. "Alive, I mean. You know? You can't really tell when they're dead. But wow," she stared at the photo a minute longer. "This has to be our girl. Have you contacted the parents yet? They can ID the body."

"Korsack's on it,"

"I want all the photos and anything about this case out of the office area in case the parents decide they want to come straight up." Jane said pointedly, finally tearing her eyes from the photo. "Get Korsack to pull up any identifying details about the other girls that could be similar with this girl. I want date of births, dates of conception, dates of their first freaking step, I don't care. If they have anything in common, I want it listed out." Jane reached down and slid the photo of the young girl into her pocket. She looked at Maura and softened her voice. "I want her lookin' presentable, ya know? Just don't let her parents see any blood or anything."

"This isn't the first time we're doing this, Jane." Maura said earnestly. "What has you so shaken up?"

Ignoring her, Jane grabbed Frost's arm and guided him out of autopsy. She didn't look back at Maura as she pressed the elevator up button and stepped inside.

RIRIRIRIRI

"What do we got?" Jane asked an hour later. The parents had finally arrived and were downstairs in the conference room. Notes were sprawled out across all their desks.

Korsack leaned forward. "None of the girls attended the same school at any time. Leah went to Frost Elementary, then Colton Middle School and split her high school years between Liam Wesner and Ridgewood. Attended Hollis Prime College."

"Kelly?"

"Had a couple of elementary schools but none of them were in the same distract as any of the girls. Killinger, Colfield, Mayner and Westwood. Was straight through with Clinton Mayer Middle School. She only graduated from Dilmer High a few months ago," Korsack ended sadly. "Rachel was consistent all through her years. Same distract, same schools, same friends."

Jane frowned. "What about online? Any mutual friends?"

"Their _facebooks,_" Korsack emphasized. "Didn't have too much in common besides the shared common interest. They all loved Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl-"

"-of course-" mumbled Jane.

"No mutual friends,"

"Mutual friends of friends?"

"Jane," sighed Frost. "You've given us an hour to collect what we have here. I haven't gotten through that quickly. You've got to give me some ti-"

Snapping her head back to look at him, Jane seethed. "Time, Frost? These girls didn't have a hell of a lot of time."

Frost narrowed his eyes. "We're doing the best we can."

"I know." Jane said. "I _know_." A little softer. "Okay," she brushed a hand through her hair and collected everything on her desk. "Okay, Leah is the closest in age to Amanda, right? Leah is nineteen." Doing the math in her head, Jane froze. "So, that's five years age difference. That's a pretty big gap compared to the first three. Why is this girl so young? Did you check Amanda's facebook?"

Frost nodded curtly. "I just got to it. It's private, so we're either going to need a password from the parents or you need to give me time to get in."

"Start trying to get in," she pushed her chair back. "I'll see if I can get a password from the parents. I'm going to go down and talk to them."

"Alone?" Frost threw his voice towards Jane as she was already half way out the door.

Jane just nodded and took off.

RIRIRIRIRI

There was a woman in the room when Jane entered and at her side was a lanky young boy with messy raven hair and rickety glasses at the crook of his nose. Little speckles ran across his rather rosy cheeks and dipped down to his neck line. His eyes, a poignant shade of ocean blue, stared up at Jane and traveled down to where her gun latched securely to her waist. He nodded and her and she nodded back; a small sign of approval from a small child. The mother reached out her hand and messed her sons hair. Jane could tell she had been crying, but something behind her eyes showed a courage and a strength that she hadn't seen in any of the other parents. Amanda's mom wasn't broken yet, and that worried Jane the most.

"Mrs. Orely," Jane said quietly.

"Just miss." corrected the woman. She swiped a long lock of dirty blonde hair behind her ear and attempted a smile. "You've found my daughter?"

Jane cleared her throat and sat down in a seat across from Amanda's mother. "We did."

"May I see her?"

The calm demeanor worried Jane. She barely seemed to be registering the scenario around her. The little boy looked up at his mother peculiarly, a mixed look of wonder and sadness that only a child can pull off, and tugged her sleeve impatiently. "Where's Mandy?" he whispered into her ear. The woman smiled a grave smile and stared at her son.

"The detective will bring her down soon," she muttered, ruffling his hair once more.

Jane turned and looked at the boy. "What's your name?"

"Nick. What's yours?"

"Jane." she replied kindly. "You know, Nick. Your mom and I really have to talk about a few things. Would you mind very much if I brought someone up here to hang out with you in a separate room while we talk about Mandy?"

He frowned for a moment and then shrugged, showing his apparent disinterest in the entire matter. Jane fumbled clumsily with her phone and finally managed to ring Maura down in autopsy. In a matter of moments, Maura entered the room, smiled at Jane and took Nick's hand. "We'll be in the other room," Maura said to the mother. Ms. Orely nodded and left a light kiss at the top of Nick's head. Jane mouthed a thank you to Maura and turned back to Amanda's mother.

"You've found Amanda? Where is she?" Ms. Orely said again.

"Ms. Orely," Jane swallowed her sadness as best she could. "Amanda's body was found last night around midnight."

"Her body?"

"Yes,"

"What do you mean her body?"

Jane let her pen fall onto the table. "Amanda was pronounced dead on scene."

"No," Ms. Orely laughed. "That's ridiculous."

"Ms. Orely-"

"_No._"

"Please, if we could just-"

"That's my daughter you're talking about!" her voice shook. "My _daughter,_"

"Ms. Orely, please." Jane thrust a tissue towards the woman, who swatted it away. No tears were falling from her eyes but her face was growing red and there was a vein throbbing in her vein as though she was very angry. "Please, I want to find who did this to your daughter."

The woman looked up and stared hard at Jane. "I've raised Amanda since she was four days old." she whispered harshly. "You're telling me my daughter is gone? Just like that?"

"She-" Jane paused. "Pardon, did you say four days old?"

"I adopted Amanda."

"You adopted Amanda." A fleeting glimmer of hope shook Jane inside. "Is it an open adoption? Do you know who her biological father is?"

Ms. Orely sat back in the chair. "Of course not. Shouldn't you people know?"

"Amanda was found in a garbage can barely alive, only hours old." Her eyes closed. "Someone just dumped her there like yesterday's trash. I'm a registered foster parent and she was put in my care only three days later. Eventually I adopted her at age four. It was one of your guys who found her. I only assumed you would know her story."

Jane wrote something down and looked back at Amanda's mom. "Do you remember the detective's name who discovered Amanda?"

"Detective Frank Ritkowski." Ms. Orely said strongly. It was as though the name had never left the tip of her tongue after all these years. "Such a good man. He comes by, you know. For dinner. He and Amanda are very close," she frowned. "She calls him Uncle Frankie. Oh lord, how do I tell Nicky?"

"We have trauma counselors," offered Jane. "There are people who are willing to help you, Ms. Orely." Pausing for a moment, trying to decide whether or not her move was the right move, Jane leaned forward and spoke directly into Ms. Orely's eyes. "We believe your daughter wasn't killed at random. There is reason to believe that she is part of a group of girls being murdered," Lightening struck in the mothers eyes. "We need access to everything you can give us. Social networks, her laptops, e-mails. We need everything."

"Whatever you want," she mumbled quietly.

Jane gathered her things and stood, extending one last time a tissue. The mother took it and stared into it softly. "I am so sorry," Jane muttered.

"Amanda was thrown into this world through hate and taken out the same way," Ms. Orely blew her nose and looked up at Jane. "Don't feel sorry for me, Detective. Feel sorry for Amanda."

_Don't worry, _Jane thought. _I do. _She guided Amanda's mother out into the next room where Maura was sitting crossed-legged on the floor with Nick. Nick looked quite content. For a moment, it surprised Jane. Maura had simply been her first instinct to watch the child, but she never imagined it to go as well as it seemed to be going. He had a sucker in one hand and was scribbling on a piece of paper with a red crayon. Just as he finished his masterpiece, he laughed and held it up so Maura could look at it. She smiled and he pushed it against the palm of her hand.

"For me?" she asked, surprised. He nodded and pointed towards the illegible letters scribbled in the corner. The harder Jane stared, the more she could make out the M-A-R-A. He was missing a U, but he made his point. Maura smiled and accepted it. "I'll keep it forever." Nick turned to Jane and his mother, not at all surprised by their presence, but furrowed his brow in frustration.

"Mandy?"

Jane looked at Ms. Orely. Her heart seemed to be breaking more every second she stared at her son. Maura looked up at Jane and Jane looked down at Maura. No one in the room seemed to be breathing, let alone talking. Finally Ms. Orely knelt down on one knee and extended her long arms out towards Nick. He graciously accepted them and fell into her warmth. She hugged him tight, tight enough that with just her arms she lifted him up, and kissed his soft cheek. "Mandy isn't coming home today, baby."

"Oh," he said quietly. "What about tomorrow?"

Everyone was quiet. Jane didn't know what was more heartbreaking; the fact that Nick just lost his sister, or the fact that Nick was about to lose his childhood innocence. Ms. Orely nodded at Jane and Maura who each nodded back and walked out of the room, her son a bundle in her arms. Maura walked to Jane and laid her head on Jane's shoulder. "Such a beautiful little boy," Maura whispered. "He's so young. He shouldn't have to know about this part of the world."

"No," Jane agreed. "He shouldn't."

"I'll get back to work, then."

"Thank you, Maur. For sitting with him. I didn't want to pull Korsack or Frost from upstairs, you know?"

"Thanks for thinking of me." Maura smiled and turned around to leave. Jane reached out and touched her shoulder just slightly. It was just enough for Maura to react and turn around. "Hm?" she hummed.

Jane grinned. "You really think I'm the best detective up there?"

Rolling her eyes, Maura placed a quick kiss on Jane's cheek, flashed her a witty smile and turned back around to leave.


	9. Military Man

Frost, Korsak and Jane sat in their office chairs. All three of them were lost in their thoughts. Each of them had a girls file in their hand, hoping to spot something that they didn't before. Amanda's file was still sitting on Jane's desk. She decided to wait to look through hers last. The image of Amanda's mother and little brother was too fresh in her mind. "The connection is their father," Jane said sourly. "The question is who the hell is their father?" She tossed Leah's file onto her desk. "And how do we find him?

Korsak grimaced. "We've got nothing."

"There has to be something here." she cried out in frustration. "These girls didn't know each other, lived in separate places. They all have the same father. Amanda," Jane stretched over and grabbed her file. "Is the only one that wasn't conceived at a clinic. That we know of, at least. Amanda's adopted. Did you call that detective that found her?"

"Yeah." said Korsak grimly. "He's pretty beaten up. Guess he and Amanda were close."

"That's what her mom said." Jane chewed on her bottom lip, then pointed to Frost. "Did we run a background check of employment of all the girls parents? Anybody overlap? Coworkers, friends?"

Frost shook his head. "Nothing. None of them have ever met before, according to our computer." Jane slid back in her chair. Outside, it was already night time. They were working well past their normal leave time, but none of them felt comfortable leaving without having figured out anything new. Jane rubbed her eyes from exhaustion, letting out a small sigh. The case seemed hopeless. "Wait," she said suddenly. "Wait, what did you say the other day, Frost? You said something about moving?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, I just said maybe the sperm donor moved from place to place, Young kid with his family or something, you know? Wanted a little extra cash." Jane thought about this for a moment before pointing at Korsak.

"Pull me up a list of all military bases in California."

"You think our guy is military?"

"I think it's the best idea we've got." she said seriously. Korsak didn't argue with her. He turned his computer back on and pulled up the database of military bases in the country. California's page loaded slowly, but when it finally pulled up, he laughed. "What do we got?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Nine naval, six marine, two coast guard, four army and seven air force. Jane, there's no way we can narrow it down to find one guy in all of this."

"Isolate Leah's city where she was conceived in and search for the nearest military base within fifty miles."

"San Diego?" Korsak asked. Jane nodded. After typing in a few things, his eyes looked straight up at Jane. "MCAS Miramar. 15 km outside of San Diego."

"What's that, eight miles?" said Frost.

"About." Jane replied. "How far is it from the clinic that Leah was conceived in?"

"Ten or eleven miles, at the most."

"That's not very far." Jane walked around the desk so she was behind Korsak. She stared at the screen a few more seconds, wanting to see the information to herself. She needed that sense that she was following the right direction. She finally nodded to herself and smiled a little bit. "Leah is our youngest of the first three. She's nineteen. Born in," she paused, flipping through the girls file. "1992. Year earlier, 1991, Kelly was born. Two years earlier, 1989, Rachel was born. Isn't Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina?"

Korsak double checked. "Yeah, it's a training facility."

"Marine, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alright." she thought pensively for a moment. "Consider this. We were saying how it's probably a teenager, right? 18 years old, joins up at the Marines. Thinks it's going to be the good life. Getting college paid for, not a lot of land time. Bootcamp is 13 weeks. MCT a few more. Finishes that up, isn't being deployed... he's probably working on a camp somewhere, right? Using whatever training he got. Everyone knows the military doesn't pay the greatest. He's eighteen, nineteen. Needs some extra cash. He and his buddies go donate. 100 bucks a blow. That's enough cash to go out and get a few drinks, some dinner." She picked up Rachel's file again and flipped through. "Rachel was born August 14th, 1989. Go back nine months, it's December. If he started training in June, he's done by September. MCT for what, two or three weeks? Puts us at November. Goes and donates, Rachel's parents get his donation. Congratulations, it's a girl."

"All speculation." said Korsak. "We have no proof."

"No, we don't. That's why we have to get it."

"Jane, I don't know."

"Look, Korsak. You see it yourself. Rachel was... _implanted _at a clinic in Jacksonville, only a few miles away from Camp LeJeune. Leah, our youngest, was conceived only eight miles away from another Marine base. Look up Kelly. I bet you anything there is another Marine base _under _ten miles away from the clinic where she was conceived."

"Kelly was born here in Massachusetts. There aren't any Marine bases here, Jane." said Frost. "And even if there were, it doesn't help us any. Military files are sealed."

"Just because we're not allowed to, doesn't mean we can't." Jane said firmly. "And for the record, Kelly was born in Massachusetts. Her parents went to a clinic in Springfield, Virgina where Kelly's grandparents live." With a smug smile, Jane patted Korsak on the shoulder. "How does it feel to constantly be one-upped by your younger, female detective?"

Korsak turned over to Frost. "You can have her," Jane laughed and nudged him again. "Yeah, yeah. I'm looking up Marine bases near the clinic where Kelly was conceived at." There was a long silence except for the low purr of the computer. "Ten miles out." He grumbled. "Quantico."

"It still doesn't mean anything." said Frost. "Coincidence."

"Just like it was a coincidence that our four dead girls are all half-sisters?" snorted Jane. "You tell me how you're going to tell those mother's and father's that we can't solve their daughter's murders because the only thing we have to go on is a hunch, and we don't want to risk exploring it." With one last hard stare at Frost, Jane walked back to her desk and began picking up her things. "Look, I don't know if this is going to get us anywhere but it's no good to stay here any later than we are. Let's pack it up for the night, come back in the morning and explore this more." She snapped her gun to her belt, threw her bag over her shoulder and turned back to her partners. "We can't let this bastard get away with this. There is a fourteen year old girl in a freezer downstairs."

"We all feel the weight of a child murder, Jane." Korsak said briskly. Jane turned back around, already at the door, and frowned.

"Then let's solve this damn thing."

* * *

><p>Jane slipped inside her car and closed her eyes. It was a longer drive to her house than Maura's, but it was already nearing midnight and chances were good that the doctor was already tucked in her bed, fast asleep. Everything ached. Jane's head, Jane's arms, her legs and shoulders. Even her heart hurt a little, just thinking about all the girls lives that were cut short. And for what? Jane groaned and put her car in reverse, slowly backing out of her favorite parking spot and speeding out of the lot. She found herself on the path to Maura's. With only slight hesitation, Jane picked her cell phone up and pressed Maura's speed dial. It rang two times.<p>

"_Are you just now leaving work?" _said Maura over the line, her voice a little breathless.

"It was a long night. Why are you up?"

"_Couldn't sleep,_" she said vaguely. _"Where are you now?" _

"Driving." Jane turned the radio off. "Actually, I was wondering if I could stay at your place tonight. It's a longer drive back to my house and I'm beat."

There was a long pause on the line. _"You've never asked that before." _

"What?"

"_Normally you just come over," _she explained. _"You've never asked if you could." _

Jane's stomach sank a bit. "Well," Pause. "I mean, we're dating now."

"_Yes?" _

"So I just, well, we." stuttered Jane. "I didn't know if the rules had changed."

"_The rules, Jane?" _

"I didn't want you to think that I was just coming over for..." she closed her eyes. Jane had never been so happy that Maura couldn't see her face. She could feel a hot tingle springing up the side of her neck, blotting her cheeks with a natural blush. "You know."

"_No," _Maura sounded amused. _"I don't know." _

"Ididn'." Jane mumbled very quickly. She tried her hardest not to groan out of embarrassment. Maura laughed, a quaint little giggle that Jane heard many times before. Normally it was directed at her. She found it cute most times, but the chuckle only embarrassed Jane further and she pressed her back firmly against the seat, wishing she could disappear in it. "It wasn't that funny." she deadpanned.

"_I'm sorry, Jane." _Maura stifled her laughter. _"It was very kind of you to consider my... feelings."_

Jane smiled. "Apology not accepted."

"_When will you be here?" _

"Maybe ten minutes or so."

"_I'll leave the door unlocked." _

"Alright, be there soon." Jane went to press the end button but Maura calling out her name stopped her. She pressed the phone back to her ear. "Yeah?"

"_For the record," _she said slowly. _"I would have been completely okay with this being a booty call." _

* * *

><p><em><em>**I had lost this chapter and kind of gave up hope of ever finding it. Sorry guys. lol I found it last night written in a notebook and I was like oh. Here is it. Forgive me?  
><strong>


	10. Newton

Maura rolled over and melted against the warmth of Jane's body next to her; her hand slid between the detective's waist and arm, extinguishing any space between them. She sighed contently. Maura loved this. She _loved _it. She loved how Jane, barely awake and completely unaware of her actions, would always react to Maura's sleepy hugs. Her slender, tanned legs would dance beneath their blanket in search of Maura's and they would tie themselves together. Jane always managed to make Maura feel unbelievably loved and cherished even if Jane wasn't awake. The way she searched for her hand in the dark, muttered her name during a dream... Maura leaned forward and kissed Jane's cheek softly, her index finger curling around the tendril of dark brown hair framing Jane's face.

"Good morning," Jane mumbled sleepily, a tiny grin forming.

Maura blushed. "How long have you been awake?"

"Longer than you," she leaned forward, eyes still closed, and kissed Maura's forehead. "You know, you talk in your sleep."

"So do you." Maura mumbled defensively, suddenly quite self conscious.

Jane laughed and rolled to her side, letting out a long, drawn out yawn. "Well, I don't know what I say, but I wish you hadn't of woken up. You were getting pretty interesting there for a while."

"Aren't I always interesting?" asked Maura playfully. Jane frowned and turned to look at her girlfriend.

"That depends on what your definition of interesting is." she said carefully. "Are we talking google Maura or bedroom Maura?"

"_Jane!" _shrieked Maura, her startled and somewhat embarrassed giggle echoing off the walls. Jane laughed as well but more out of pure satisfaction than anything else. They were both perfectly well aware that they hadn't done anything more than light making out, but Jane found gratification in knowing she could cause such a blush to rise on the medical examiner's cheeks. She tugged at Maura's side and pulled her closer, stealing a quick kiss from her lips before Maura could pull away. She mimicked Maura's earlier actions, taking a strand of the honey blonde's hair and tugging at it gently. A moment later she tucked it behind Maura's ear, making sure to first kiss the doctor's jawline up and up and up until she was met with the same strand of hair once more. Maura sighed poetically; yes, she loved this about Jane too. "We should get ready for work," she muttered as Jane worked her way back down to Maura's neck.

"We should," muttered Jane back.

"J-Jane,"

"Yes?"

"Didn't we say something about taking things slow?"

Jane pulled away. "You're right. I said that, didn't I?"

"You did."

"I'm starting to reconsider that statement."

Maura grinned. "Too late now," she kissed Jane's cheek. "Time for work!" Maura slipped quickly from Jane's grasp and ran to the bathroom, shutting the door before Jane could even begin a single utterance of protest.

–

"You were right."

"I usually am," Jane said, dropping her bag on the floor next to her desk and taking a seat. "What was I right about this time?"

Frost slammed a piece of paper down on her desk. "Michael Meyers. Stationed in all four of our hot spots. And check this out," he turned around and typed something into his computer, then turned the monitor for Jane to see. "You see that right there?"

"Yeah, it's a cleft chin."

"Something all four of our girls have."

"That isn't exactly hard hitting evidence."

"Cleft chin is passed from father to child." he stated. "Coincidence?'

"No chance in hell. I want him in here."

"There's a problem." They were the words that Jane never liked hearing, and it seemed as if the only words she ever really heard. Frost typed something into his computer and Jane waited, impatiently tapping her foot against the floor. "Meyers is deployed overseas." Jane's heart fell into her stomach. "I checked, Jane. He was not in the United States during any of the murders. He's on a double deployment in Afghanistan. His family lives in Newton right now."

Jane poked over Frost's shoulder to look at the screen herself. Sure enough, she saw exactly what he said: Michael Meyers, deployed to Afghanistan. His deploy date was March 3rd, 2010. Sighing, Jane ran a hand across her face and sat down in her chair. "So do we send him a "it's a girl" telegram or something?"

"That might be considered insensitive."

"Yeah." Jane said darkly. "Yeah, it would. Okay. We don't even know if this guy is the father. We need to get a hold of him some how. Can we get a hold of his unit and get a conference going? What time in Afghanistan is it right now?"

"Slow down, Rizzoli." demanded Cavanaugh as he came out from his office. "This is a military man. There is no way in hell I'm letting you tear a man fighting for his country away from his duties on a coincidence. We have no way of knowing-"

"And how are we going to take coincidence and make it more than that if we don't question him? You honestly don't see what's right in front of you?" Jane argued back. Steam seemed to blow from the lieutenant's face.

"Just because this man has a cleft chin does not mean he is the father! Have you considered that the mother-"

"We know who the mothers are." growled Jane. "We've _seen _them. None of them-"

"Did you miss your biology class in high school, Rizzoli?" he shouted. "Recessive genes do exist."

"This is the best shot we've got-"

"Well you have better start looking for another one."

It was the end of the conversation. Cavanaugh turned around and stomped back to his office, slamming the door behind him. Jane turned around, furious, and stared wildly at her coworkers; neither Korsak or Frost looked nearly as shell shocked as Jane, but she could see the disappointed feeling hidden behind Frost's eyes. Jane crossed back over to her desk and sat at the computer, staring at the blank screen a little longer before finally turning it on. Frost and Korsak made their way back to their own desks as well. When it finally seemed as though everyone was settled and back to working on the case, Jane spoke.

"Frost?"

"Yeah?"

"Get me the wife's address and phone number please."

"Jane..."

–

"Hey," said Jane, walking in from the elevator and into autopsy. Maura didn't budge from her work; the body she was working on laid open in front of her and the look of pure concentration never broke. Jane thought she saw her turn her head to smile at her, but the idea seemed laughable. When Maura was busy in her work, there was no dragging her out – no matter what. She scooted back and sat on the counter nearest Maura, opening the large brown bag she had brought down for lunch. It wasn't her normal diet. Today she chose salads, something she remembered Maura saying she had a taste for the night before, and popped open the lid of her own and poked at it miserably with her plastic fork. What she would give for a cheeseburger at that moment...

Jane waited as patiently as Jane Rizzoli could wait. She kicked her legs and swayed back and forth and watched as Maura made observations on what looked like an alcohol soiled liver. Finally, after only five minutes of waiting, Jane decided to try and get the doctor's attention. "Frost ate a baby for breakfast this morning," she called out, hoping to draw some reaction from her girlfriend. Maura didn't even clinch. "Ma is moving into the main house." Again, no reaction. "Frankie is giving up on his dream of becoming a detective and joining a clown college. Red nose and all." No reaction. "I'm naked!" she shouted, albeit a little too loud and it even startled herself, and when she was sure no one else had heard her, she looked at Maura, who was still hunched over the body working, the noise unable to penetrate the wall Maura always put up when working. Finally admitting defeat, she stabbed a leafy green and shoved it in her mouth, chewing and swallowing it with discontent. It definitely was not a cheeseburger.

It was another ten minutes before Maura concluded her work and another fifteen before she had washed up and was able to join Jane for lunch. She slithered in front of Jane, her own hand replacing the salad container Jane was holding. She squeezed and smiled. "Barry has far too high of a moral conscious to ever even consider eating an infant." she explained, almost as if she thought Jane thought Frost would ever do such a thing. "Your mother is more than welcome to stay in any area of my house as long as it is not my bedroom. Red is _not _Frankie's color. He should reconsider. And you," she mumbled, her smile crooked, her head cocked to the side, and her eyes traveling. "You are _not _naked."

Jane grinned. "So you do listen to me."

"How can I not? You are very loud." she slid away and reached into the bag, pulling out her own salad and smiling with delight. She popped a carrot into her mouth and nodded at her girlfriend. "Any leads?"

"Kind of." Jane shrugged, taking a sip from her coke. "We found a guy that matches every base close to the donor banks, but Cavanaugh won't let us near him unless we have more evidence."

"What kind of evidence do you have?"

"Not much," she admitted. "He was stationed at bases within the perimeter we discussed yesterday. Problem is, he has been deployed for two years in Afghanistan. He couldn't of killed anyone. That kills our 'it was the dad' lead, but he might know something, y'know?" Jane shrugged and scooted further back on the counter so she could lean against the wall.

"How do you know this guy is even the father?"

"Cleft chin." Jane explained. "All the girls have a cleft chin, don't they?"

"Well... yes, but,"

"I know it's not DNA, Maura. But I have a gut feeling about this one."

Maura sighed tiredly. "You always have a gut feeling, but as I've told you several times-"

"Yes," Jane interrupted. "I don't feel with my whatever. I know that. You stick with your science, I'll stick with mine. Besides," Jane scooted a little further away from Maura. "I'm going to go see the wife tonight." Maura nearly choked on her salad. Spluttering, she finally wiped her mouth on a napkin and looked incredulously at Jane.

"I thought Cavanaugh said you couldn't do anything until you had evidence?"

"And how do you expect me to get evidence without going and finding evidence?"

"You are going to get in trouble!"

"It could be nothing." Jane said easily. "I could go there and my gut feeling could go away and we could move on to the next lead. Simple."

"And what do you tell Cavanaugh if your gut feeling doesn't go away, Jane?"

"Why are you getting so upset about this?"

"Because this is your job! You can't keep taking risks. It's not always going to be there if you continually piss off the person who signs your checks."

"What, you think I can't handle myself?"

"I think sometimes you go too far."

"This is my _job, _Maura. I'm _supposed _to go to far, sometimes. I'm supposed to push the limits. If I didn't, nothing would ever get done!"

"So it means you go against orders? There is hierarchy for a reason."

Jane scoffed. "Are we really fighting right now?"

"I suppose we are."

"Don't wait up tonight." the darker haired woman grumbled, grabbing the empty lunch bag and tossing it in the can. Maura called out after her.

"Where are you going?"

"Newton." replied Jane sharply, turning roughly around the corner and punching the elevator up button.


End file.
